No Parking Headache When you BIKE to RVA’s Big Events
Biking + Easter + Richmond = a colorful affair!
Some 30,000 people came out to this weekend’s Easter on Parade on Monument Avenue. And can you blame them?! The sun was shining, it was the perfect 60-some degrees, and everything from the daffodils to the cherry trees to the bonnets were in full bloom!
But how do 30,000 people GET to an event this idyllic and delightful? We shudder to think that they all might have indeed driven there. Richmond’s Fan District, where everything from this weekend’s Easter party to last weekend’s 30,000 person-plus 10k are held annually, is great for many things. But accommodating thousands of cars for on-street parking is not one of them. The same can be said for so many of our region’s most celebrated events. The Folk Festival? Arguably the premiere music event in RVA, and it’s free and regularly draws between 100 and 200 thousand people! But the downtown riverfront – a snarl for parking. The Church Hill Irish Festival? You want to see some bagpipers and you want to see them now but brace yourself for the traffic jam if you’re coming by car. VCU or UR basketball fan? The parking decks at these schools offer a good option but be ready to open your wallet and still sit in line.
Don’t you deserve to get to RVA’s best events without the headaches of traffic and parking?
Even if you’re not a regular bike ‘commuter’ or avid ‘cyclist,’ breaking out your bike to reach one of these crowd-heavy affairs is the way to go! Zip past the traffic backlog and lock your bike up within steps of the main event. Not sure if you’re ready to begin biking, even if it saves you the stress of day-of parking? We’ve got some tips if you’re just giving it a try!
Upcoming Events for the Pedaling Masses
All of these events are sure to be jam-packed. Break out the bike and see if you don’t experience the benefits of a nice ride, zero parking cost, and very little traffic.
Venture Richmond’s popular Friday Cheers! series is about to begin. These weekly outdoor concerts are low-cost and always draw a crowd of families and music lovers. If you’re wary of biking all the way down the hill to Browns’ Island (because what goes down, must come back up at the end of the night…), try locking your bikes up a few blocks up the hill and walking the rest of the way.- Que Pasa Festival of Virginia along the Canal Walk has food, music, and art. Whether you’re coming from Southside, downtown, the east end, or points West, wind your way to the festival via the backroads and roll up to Que Pasa stress free!
- Dominion Riverrock is one of the nation’s premiere outdoor sports festivals. 3 days of bands, professional competition in the eye-popping sports of bouldering, white water kayaking, bmx biking, and more and several public participation fun runs too. What better way to celebrate our outdoor, river-centric city than with a nice bike ride to Riverrock?!
- Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is a big draw from here on out in our warm weather months. Constant gardens in bloom and a calendar of concerts and events to fill out your weekends and summer evenings.
- Elegba Folklore Society’s Juneteenth is a weekend-long freedom celebration packed with entaintainment, history, and crowds.