Time to dust off your bikes, scooters, rollerblades and walking sneakers β Tucsonβs largest βopen streetsβ event, Cyclovia Tucson, returns for its delayed 10th-anniversary celebration on Sunday, March 27, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The car-free event allows the community to reimagine what a 5-mile stretch of Tucsonβs city streets could look like as living public spaces. Cyclovia Tucson features all-ages activities, food vendors and demonstrations that enable Tucsonans to explore the city and support local businesses and nonprofits while socializing with other community members.
In 2021, Cyclovia Tucson pivoted to Cyclovia Remix, a "six-month event featuring a variety of outdoor, cultural activities including group rides, pop-up events and a different bike-riding route each month," #ThisIsTucson reported last year.
Now, Cyclovia Tucson is fully back and ready to celebrate 10 years of open streets in Tucson.
βDuring Cyclovia we get to experience them (city streets) differently and witness what it's like when there's not the noise of traffic and the threat of traffic whizzing by dominating the street,β said Emily Yetman, the executive director of Living Streets Alliance, the local nonprofit that hosts Cyclovia Tucson. βInstead, we get to make connections with people, we get to discover new places, we get to try out modes of transportation that might be intimidating in a normal environment and see how that feels. So, those things are kind of the pillars of the event and still as relevant as ever for us and our motivation to do the event twice every year.β
This yearβs route runs from downtown Tucson to South Tucson for a β5-mile block party,β Yetman said. The route features seven activity hubs, including a Zumba class, a ballet folklΓ³rico performance and BMX demonstrations for all of the avid bike enthusiasts in the community.
While youβre there, donβt forget to stop by one of the information booths for a βCinco for Cycloviaβ scavenger hunt card so you can earn prizes from local businesses and organizations.
Bicycles come and go from the Banner-University Medicine Activity Hub during Cyclovia, where vehicular traffic on certain streets in Tucson are blocked allowing people to walk, ride bicycles, skateboards freely on April 7, 2019. It is part of the Living Streets Alliance program that advocates for a thriving Tucson by creating safe streets for everyone.
Cyclovia Tucsonβs website has an interactive Google map that allows users to view the entire route and pinpoint all activity hubs, information booths and car crossings. Yetman recommends checking out the map ahead of time to familiarize yourself with the route and how to access it based on your transportation mode.
Whether youβre riding a bike, dancing your way through the route or sitting sidelined watching a performance, Yetman wants to remind event-goers that Cyclovia Tucson isnβt a race or an event with a start and finish line, so enjoy the ride whichever way you decide to participate and wherever you decide to join the route.
βIt's great because it's completely free, you don't have to have anything to participate,β Yetman said. βSo you can show up and walk if you want to, you can roller skate, you can bring a lawn chair or find a bench and just sit and take in the action. So it's something that you don't have to be young or old, or able-bodied, or really anything different. It's very inclusive and it's free for all ages.β
Cyclists ride along Church Avenue during Cyclovia in downtown Tucson area on April 2, 2017. Cyclovia, meaning the temporary closure of several streets to cars, allows for bicyclists, skateboarders, runners, walkers and others to enjoy the day exploring fun activities throughout the route.
Living Streets Alliance started the Cyclovia Tucson program in 2010 and initially began with one event per year, but due to the eventβs success, they began hosting the event twice a year: once in the spring and once in the fall.
Hosting two events a year allowed Living Streets Alliance to experiment with different routes that could βhelp celebrate and elevate the different parts of our city that are unique and how their own identity, their own local businesses, are really pillars in the community, great neighborhoods, public destinations and amenities,β Yetman said.
The 2022 event is Cyclovia Tucsonβs 17th event since its start 12 years ago, according to Yetman.
βWe're in a place where we feel pretty confident that we can do this safely outdoors and reconnect with our community. We're really excited about it...β Yetman said. βAnd it's for everyone and it really is a celebration of Tucson and this community. It's very much by the community that it happens. We have just so many people and partners that, you know, pitch in to help bring this route to life, so it really is a community effort.β
If you go
What: Cyclovia Tucson.
When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 27.
Where: North Stone Avenue and East Alameda Street to South Eighth Avenue and West 37th Street. (Check out Cyclovia Tucson's interactive map for more details.)
Cost: Free.
More information: cycloviatucson.org.
