International Bicycle Festival Kicks Off in Belgrade

The Velograd Bicycle Festival will be held for the second time in the Savamala neighbourhood in Belgrade.

During the two-day festival, visitors will have the chance to see bicycle fashion show, acrobats and a polo game on bikes, while the main event is the so-called Orange Bike Ride.

This is a group bike tour through Belgrade that everyone is welcome to attend. All participants are encouraged to dress in orange while the “most orange” participant will get a bicycle as a reward.

The festival will also organise a conference of cycling experts from the region and from bike-mad Holland, which will discuss their experiences and agree on proposals for Belgrade to improve its cycling infrastructure.

The experts will also present bicycling as a business model and the newest achievements in cycling design.

The Dutch ambassador to Belgrade, Laurent Stokvis, whose embassy is supporting the festival, said The Netherlands wished to encourage and promote urban cycling in Belgrade.

He noted that Holland has much experience in this area and that his country has more bicycles then residents, with 19 million bikes among 17 million people.

Several companies will present products related to bicycling during the festival and showcase all the different models of bicycles that exist in the Serbian market.

During the festival, traffic in Karadjordjeva street will be altered, while Brace Krsmanovic, Travnicka and Mostarska streets will be completely closed to traffic.