Boulder Green Streets Announces Ciclovia 2014
Residents are already out in full force this summer on Boulder’s 159 miles of dedicated bikeways and at events including many hosted during Boulder Walk & Bike Month. As a finale to the month’s festivities, Boulder Green Streets now announces its fifth annual Ciclovia to be held on Sunday, September 14th between 10am and 4pm. It is sponsored by the City of Boulder.
Some may remember that last year’s event was cancelled due the the Boulder floods. “Amid tragedy, the flood reminded us why such community events are so important,” says Boulder Green Streets Founder and Director Hillary Griffith. “In order to become a strong, resilient community, you need to bring people together, share information, link neighborhoods and invite them to meet one another.”
Like the inaugural event, when Boulder Green Streets hosted the 4-Mile Firefighters parade, the organization hopes visitors will come down and celebrate a year of recovery. The 2014 event will serve as both an opportunity to remember the hardships of last year while honoring all that is Boulder. Says Griffith, “The fifth annual Ciclovia is gearing up to be the biggest and best yet.”
Boulder Green Streets Ciclovia embraces and incorporates the best of the Boulder lifestyle by creating three miles of park-like space for riding and play linked by thematic zones. Attendees walk, bike, dance or roll their way between zones including Zona Latina, Sustainable Living, Let’s Move, Connected Mobility, Yoga Zone, Health & Wellness, Innovation & Creativity, Organic Food Pavilion, Eco Fashion & Design, Outdoor Adventurer and Cycle Ride & Roll.
This year’s car-free route features several miles of exciting programming including a bike rodeo, a climbing wall, wheelchair obstacle course, kids skate park, yoga, organic food tastings, and an expanding line-up of live music and dance. All activities are FREE to the public. Among the other fun events along the route, Boulder Green Streets will also be hosting their annual Green Carpet Fashion Show, which features the latest and greatest in commuter-friendly style, local design and eco-friendly fashion.
The event is modeled after Bogotá, Colombia’s Ciclovia, where each Sunday 70 miles of roads are closed and 2 million people take to the streets. In 2012 more than 15,000 visitors attended the Boulder Green Streets Ciclovia and 65% of attendees arrived by alternative means. Of the 1,000 participants who completed last year’s survey, nearly all claimed, “This is now my favorite Boulder event!”.
“It is awesome to see so many people come out onto the streets and be in community together. Its part of what makes Boulder such an amazing place to live. My favorite part of the day is seeing the look on the faces of children as they ride down the car-free streets on their strydr, road and mountain bikes” says Griffith. “This event offers residents a chance to get to know their neighbors, patronize local businesses, and experience Boulder in a way that isn’t possible from inside a car.”
About Boulder Green Streets
Green Streets is a non-profit organization that promotes the transformation of public space and encourages the use of alternative modes of transportation.
The organization designs, develops and produces numerous car-free community events that promote active, healthy living, sustainability and strong community. This is done by creating expanded public, park-like spaces in open streets. Extensive and free activity programming gets all ages, economic levels, ethnicities and ability levels out to play together and experience sustainability first hand.
Our events are a part of a movement to liberate urban spaces from automobiles and to demonstrate that traffic is not inevitable. When cars are restricted from city streets, even if only temporarily, our public streets and urban spaces can be put to new use. Open streets remind us to open our minds to new possibilities.
