About this Event
- The Fancy Women Bike Ride is an international, women-focussed, trans-inclusive, cycling event held to advocate for city infrastructure and policies that help women feel welcome to use their bicycles for everyday transport.
The ride began in Türkiye in 2013, and since then has bloomed to almost 200 cities. 2021 was the first time the ride has occurred in Edmonton. 2024 will be our fourth ride. Over 150 participated in 2023, and we made a little video that we hope will be inspirational. The terrible wildfire smoke that year alerted us all to the environmental urgency of our message:
•Bicycles are women's-liberation machines
•Bicycles are climate change-fighting machines
•Bicycles are community and local business-friendly machines
•Bicycles are city tax-lowering machines
•Providing women-welcoming bike infrastructure brings beautiful things to our community.
In 2024, Pinar Pinzuti and Sema Gür, the original fancy riders who built the project to it's international scope, freed all the grassroots organizers around the world to rethink how they want to organize their advocacy, and when. In Edmonton we've chosen to continue to use whimsy and glamour to carry the message that women ride bikes, and want to feel welcomed to do so. However, we've changed dates. Now we'll ride on June 9, because June is Bike Month.
On June 9, we are inviting YEG women, trans, non-binary, queer folks and youths -especially those who don’t normally ride in the city- to join us for an easy, fun, and fancied-up cruise, a slow roll on our bikes. Any type of bicycle is appropriate, but we encourage you to dress fancy !
GUIDELINES:
– Dress code: Bring the colour! Fancy, fierce, whimsical, glamouous (whatever makes you feel beautiful, strong and great!) Decorate your bicycle too, if you like!
- How to: Arrive at City Hall at noon for photo-ops. We'll depart at 12:30. We'll ride bike lanes or residential streets, for a few kms in a slow roll. We'll greet & wave at people, and stop for art and selfies during the ride. Be inclusive to all, and support those new to cycling (offer help!)– Bring your friends, mothers, aunties and sisters, and be prepared for a magical afternoon.– Kids welcome if they can cycle the distance (or you're carrying them). Men may join, but please remember this is a women-led event. A great way to support us is to help marshall at intersections, be our photographers, and amplify the event on social media, using #FancyWomenBikeRide or #FWBRyeg.
The #FancyWomanBikeRide is about inclusive spaces; it's about creating space to be included in our city.
Instagram & Xitter: @FWBRyeg
Fediverse: @[email protected]
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/fancywomenbikeyeg.bsky.social
Meet: At City Hall, 12:00 for photos & update on the $100M Bike Network project. Depart at 12:30, with a kids-front, bell-ringing circuit of Churchill Sq, then a parade through Downtown. (Rest of the route is forthcoming).
FYI: you can bring your bike on the LRT or bus to Churchill Station. The City Hall parkade is not open.
https://vimeo.com/948909621
Need help for what to wear? There's some inspiration from previous year's rides on our Insta.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Edmonton City Hall, 1 Sir Winston Churchill Square, Edmonton, Canada
USD 0.00
