CHICO — Hundreds of bikes have been parked on Estes Road for the thirteenth annual Chico Bicycle Music Festival on Saturday hosted by the Butte Environmental Council.
Complete with a dozen performers and tens of distributors, the sustainable music present gave crowds a possibility to beat the warmth with a renewable way of life.
“We’re fighting the use of fossil fuels by showing the community that we can use people power to power music and a festival like this,” mentioned Scott Grist, an organizer for the occasion. “Not only are we saving fossil fuels, but we’re showing the community what’s possible.”
Before the occasion took off, a rally of practically 200 bikers made their begin on the downtown farmers market the place The Sun Followers kicked off a parade that included a pedal-powered procession with stay, on-bike performances all through the journey.
“It’s special because the last two years were interrupted,” mentioned Grist. “We didn’t do that in any respect throughout 2020 like how most festivals needed to fully cancel, and final yr we simply did a livestream — it was nonetheless bike-powered, however the entire neighborhood wasn’t right here.
To accommodate the excess of bicycles, Chico Velo offered a valet service for folks to drop off their bikes with out a fear. The group rented gear to the council equivalent to tents, bike racks and extra.
“The bike community is unique,” mentioned John Diehm. “You don’t need a high-end, expensive bike but you see them all the time. The electric bikes are getting real, real popular. Times are changing — it’s not uncommon for people to drop $8,000 or more on bicycles.”
When Olivia Lane arrived on the occasion, she dropped off her electrical tricycle, which she makes use of as her fundamental sort of transportation for her and her twins 5 days every week.
“It’s expensive to drive a car,” mentioned Lane. “The bike was a gift from my family, and it has been the best option for us.”
Music festival origin
The annual bicycle festival started in 2008 when the environmental council participated as a fiscal sponsor of the occasion mentioned Grist.
“The event was actually inspired by a festival in San Francisco,” mentioned Grist. “The original organizer wanted to pass it on to us and since we’re an environmental organization, it was kind of the perfect transition for BEC to take over and have this as a legacy event.”
The festival sits on land named, “End of Normal” which is being donated by the earlier proprietor, Greg Amaral to the council.