Edinburgh Festival of Cycling gearing up for thrilling third year
Edinburgh is a very cycle-friendly city! Getting around Edinburgh by bike couldn’t be easier – well except for all the hills! We even have our very own festival to celebrate everything bike-related! The Edinburgh Festival of Cycling is in its third year, getting more and more popular by giving people the chance to share their love of cycling with others, learn and be inspired!
Get pumped-up for the Edinburgh Festival of Cycling
Get on your marks for the Edinburgh Festival of Cycling
The third Edinburgh Festival of Cycling will be held from 11 to 21 June. It is a real showcase of all aspects of bicycle culture. The jam-packed 10-day programme featuring not just bike rides and races, but talks, films, drama, art, family events, and workshops. Among the rides there are several new rides, including the inauguration of the Capital Trail – a long distance mountain biking challenge – and two new Audax rides aimed at beginners and families. There will also be rides and events for children and families.
Strong women are the focus of a strong bill of events!
Shannon Galpin will talk about her experiences cycling in Afghanistan
The festival will feature inspiring speakers including Shannon Galpin, National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, talking about her work in Afghanistan using the bicycle as a vehicle for social justice. Juliana Buhring will also be giving a Q&A after the Scottish première of ‘Inspired to Ride’ the new film about the 4,233 mile Trans America race, which she was the first woman to finish (and fifth overall). New at the Festival is the powerful new drama ‘The White Bike’ by Tamara von Werthern, who was inspired to write the play by the death of Eilidh Cairns who was killed as she cycled to work.
A mid-summer night’s dream at the Edinburgh Festival of Cycling
The Original Edinburgh Night Ride is one of the most popular events
This year’s Festival of Cycling will see the return of the Original Edinburgh Night Ride, for its 3rd year, this is a supported ride which has been described as a magical mystery tour on a midsummer night – this ride has sold out for the last two years. As well as the Bike Curious Family workshop – showing families how bikes can be the perfect transport solution for children of all ages. Also, returning for its 2nd year, Women’s Cycle forum, an evening of discussion, inspiration and networking on how to build a better world.
In addition to all this there will be plenty more to do including: a literary tour, rides and tours for all-abilities, novice riders, children and the elite, workshops, exhibitions of art & photography, various workshops – one where you can build a bicycle from scratch using bamboo to make the frame -and public meetings. Throughout June, ‘Pedalling past: Edinburgh’s Cycling Heritage’, explores Edinburgh’s cycling heritage in a free exhibition at the Central Library, through historic photographs and other material from the collections of Edinburgh Libraries and Museums and Galleries.
Special events to promote commuting by bike!
The Spokes’ Bike Breakfast aims to promote commuting by bike in the Lothians
The Festival also caters to the increasing amount of people commuting in Edinburgh. The Spokes’ Bike Breakfast will be free to all who arrive by bike and features a range of stalls, speeches, security marking and servicing for bikes at the Edinburgh City Chambers. The Brompton Fold-Fest will have prizes for the quickest in town to fold a Brompton bicycle at Biketrax and at the SEStran Commuter Challenge participants will set off from Ferrytoll, Ingliston, Straiton and Newcraighall by car, bus, train, tram, bicycle, or jogging/walking and head for St Andrew Square, to see which mode is the fastest and causes the least environmental damage.
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