The Atlanta BeltLine celebrated its first Big Tigger’s BeltLine BikeFest last month on June 4, 2023.
Held at Atlanta’s Westside Park, the idea for BikeFest came from Big Tigger himself, who reached out to the BeltLine to help him bring his vision to life. “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,” Tigger says. BikeFest also aligned with the City of Atlanta’s “Year of the Youth.”
BeltLine BikeFest was a star-studded event with a group bike ride around the park lead by Atlanta Falcons’ Grady Jarrett, Slutty Vegan’s Pinky Cole, Big Dave’s Cheesesteak’s Derrick Hayes, actor Q Parker, and Marvel’s Anthony Mackie (aka Captain America).
Hundreds attended the family-friendly festival, which included a health fair with free health checks and free bikes, helmets and bike lessons for 100 Atlanta Public School students from surrounding BeltLine neighborhoods. The bikes and helmets were presented thanks to help from Aetna Better Health of Georgia & 1-800-TruckWreck. Other sponsors included radio station V-103, Sprite, Atlanta Hawks, Georgia Aquarium and NASCAR. Additional partners included Big Tigger Foundation, Atlanta Public Schools, Atlanta Influences Everything, Pedal Pushers, City of Atlanta Year of the Youth, Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, Kidokinetics, Smart Water, Sprite and Walmart.
U.S. Congresswoman Nikema Williams was in attendance to partake in the festivities and announce a congressional proclamation. Councilman Byron Amos presented A City of Atlanta proclamation, declaring the first weekend of June “Bike Around Atlanta” weekend. In addition to the magical moment of presenting free bikes to the APS students, a highlight of the day was seeing one student successfully learn to ride their bike for the first time that day.
