LEICESTER’S monthly summer celebrations of traffic-free streets and bike-based fun are returning for 2022.
From May to October, on the last weekend of each month, events and activities will take place encouraging people to explore and enjoy Leicester’s streets and spaces by bike or on foot.
On the last Saturday of each month, Bikefest will give people the chance to try out Leicester’s purpose-built cycle circuit for free.
The first free Bikefest event of the summer runs from 1-4pm on Saturday 28 May at Leicester Cycle Circuit and is open to all ages and abilities. Bring a picnic and enjoy riding around the smooth tarmac of this traffic-free loop as many times as you want. No booking is required – just turn up and ride.
British Cycling Go-Ride coaches will be on hand to help visitors improve their cycling skills, plus there’s the chance to try out specially adapted bikes for people with disabilities. Cyclone Works will also be bringing along their range of static fun bikes and popular disco bike, with a boom box mounted on the back!
If you don’t have your own bike, British Cycling have a fleet of bikes young people can use for the coaching sessions, or e-bikes will be available to try courtesy of Santander Cycles Leicester, the city’s bike share scheme.
Leicester Cycle Circuit is based at New College, in New Parks, and access is via St Oswald’s Road.
On Sunday 29 May, Leicester’s Open Streets event is back! On the last Sunday of each month, city centre streets will be opened up for people to enjoy, with free family-friendly activities taking place in the city centre.
Join in the fun at Town Hall Square and Green Dragon Square from 1pm-4pm. Use pedal power to make a smoothie or a piece of art with Cyclone Works’ crazy bikes, enjoy a rickshaw ride, try out an adapted bike or grab a ride on a Santander Cycles Leicester e-bike. Climb Leicester will be bringing their mobile climbing wall to Green Dragon Square for free climbing trials, too.
Each month, Open Streets will also display a portable street art gallery at Town Hall Square, delivered by local artists’ collective Graffwerks. A different artist each month will create a piece of work at Town Hall Square during the afternoon, building on the gallery of work first started at Open Streets events in 2019.
There will also be guided walks and led rides, fix-it sessions from Dr Bike, and an extreme mountain biking display.
The theme for this month’s Open Streets festival is Bring The Paint – the event is linking up with Leicester’s international street art festival to offer guided rides around the artworks that will be created across the city. Join a free guided ride from the Town Hall Bike Park at 1pm on Saturday 28 or Sunday 29 May. Rides will be on quiet roads or off-road tracks, accompanied by an experienced ride leader. Sign up by emailing register@letsride.co.uk
Deputy city mayor for environment and transport, Cllr Adam Clarke, said: “It’s great to be able to welcome back Open Streets and Bikefest, with all the free, family-friendly activities that they offer. These events help to demonstrate how easy it is to get around our city by bike or on foot, thanks to the extensive work we’ve done to join up key parts of the city with cycle tracks and pedestrian access. Linking up with Bring The Paint is ideal, as a bike is a great way to get around and see the artwork.”
Find out more about BikeFest at https://www.visitleicester.info/whats-on/bike-fest-p822091, and Open Streets at https://www.choosehowyoumove.co.uk/leicester-open-streets/
More information on Bring the Paint is at https://www.bringthepaint.co.uk/
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