Friday, June 2 – Sunday, June 4 at Atlanta’s Westside Park
The Atlanta BeltLine will present two major events the first weekend in June as part of its commitment to equity, inclusivity, healthy lifestyles and cultural discovery.
The weekend will begin with the return of BeltLine After Dark for its fourth annual festival, Friday, June 2 through Saturday, June 3, followed on Sunday, June 4 by the inaugural Big Tigger’s BeltLine BikeFest, presented by Aetna Better Health of Georgia & 1-800-TruckWreck.
Both will be held within the 280 acres of the city’s new Westside Park, the largest greenspace in the city of Atlanta whose network of trails connect to the Proctor Creek Greenway and will eventually feed into the Atlanta BeltLine Westside Trail.
BeltLine After Dark, a staple of the Art on the Atlanta BeltLine season, will include performance artists Liquid Sky, Novoa Dances, M3, and Assane Kouyate. The festivities will also include headliner, Mausiki Scales & the Common Ground Collective, who will, for the ninth year, present “No Tables, No Chairs,” described as a “funk-filled journey through the pulsating rhythms of the African Diaspora.” Festivalgoers will also have the opportunity to enjoy a food and artisan market with family-friendly art-making booths. More information can be found at art.beltline.org/afterdark.
On Sunday, from 9:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Atlanta BeltLine will partner with entertainment legend and current V-103 DJ Big Tigger and his Big Tigger Foundation to present the inaugural Big Tigger’s BeltLine BikeFest. The entire community is invited to join Tigger and his celebrity friends, including Atlanta Falcons’ Grady Jarrett, Captain America’s award-winning actor Anthony Mackie, Slutty Vegan’s Pinky Cole and Atlanta legend and custom bike designer DJ Mars, on a 1.5-mile group bike ride throughout Westside Park. Participation is free, but registration is required.
The idea for BeltLine BikeFest came from Big Tigger himself, who reached out to the BeltLine to help him bring his vision to life. He wanted to connect his rediscovered love of biking with his long-held desire to give back to the community by sharing the benefits of exercise and healthy living.
“I can still remember when I got my first bike as a kid. It changed my life,” said Tigger on his inspiration for the event. “In fact, during the pandemic, riding my bike along the BeltLine was one of the few things that kept me optimistic. It’s important to me that our community stays physically active. We all need to live longer, healthier, more productive lives, not only for ourselves but for the generations following us. I also want Atlanta to see the BeltLine as a resource towards those goals.”
Immediately following the group rides, Westside Park will be activated into a family festival with a health fair, free health checks, food trucks from Slutty Vegan and Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks, bike lessons from Kidokinetics, kids activities, DJs and live music performances, all curated by the Big Tigger Foundation. Free food will be offered to the first 200 guests. As part of the event, more than 100 bikes and helmets will also be given to Atlanta Public School students from surrounding BeltLine neighborhoods.
“When Tigger reached out to us, we knew we had to make this happen,” said Clyde Higgs, president and CEO of Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. “The BeltLine was designed for this. It was created to be a connecting point of ideas, people and common goals and a conduit for collaboration. And Tigger’s event is just that – an idea born out of the community and completely backed by the BeltLine. His vision was brilliant in its ability to bring together all the elements that make our city great, in honor of our shared love and respect for one another.”
BikeFest is also a part of the BeltLine’s pledge of support to Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens’ “Year of the Youth.” The initiative ensures Atlanta’s children, youth and young adults have the resources necessary to thrive. The Atlanta BeltLine has long worked with Atlanta Public Schools and students and continues to expand its programming.
“We believe wholeheartedly in the potential and opportunity that exists when the entirety of our city can rally behind our youth,” said Nonet Sykes, Atlanta BeltLine’s Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer. “We want the next generation of Atlantans to know that the BeltLine was created for them as well. This weekend also reinforces the BeltLine’s vision of being a holistic path to well-being. Big Tigger’s BeltLine BikeFest, coupled with the rich performances that will be on display with BeltLine After Dark, are true representations of that.”
BikeFest event sponsors include presenting sponsor Aetna Better Health of Georgia; gold sponsor 1-800 Truck Wreck; media sponsor V-103; and bronze sponsors Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Influences Everything, Atlanta Public Schools, Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, Fulton County Board of Health and Human Services, Georgia Aquarium, Kidokinetics, NASCAR, The Coca-Cola Company and Walmart.
For more information on Big Tigger’s BeltLine BikeFest and BeltLine After Dark, including performance schedules, group ride sign-up, participating vendors and other engagement opportunities, visit beltline.org.
Atlanta is moving up