Open Streets Boise
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There's a new annual event in town and it's happening next weekend! Today's story has all the deets on Boise's new annual bicycle celebration. Listen to me read it on the podcast here. PS - ICYMI I'm hiring. I'm ready to close the content specialist & social media applications, and will shut those off tonight. Still taking apps for the sales position. Thanks to everyone who has applied! Open Streets BoiseThere’s a new annual event kicking off next week called Open Streets Boise. The event will transform a section of a Boise neighborhood into a temporarily car-free community space. Open Streets Boise is hosted by Boise Bicycle Project and it's an evolution of Boise Goathead Fest, which was a celebration of Boise’s bicycle community and an event to bring awareness to the invasive goathead weed. (Read the backstory on Goathead Fest here - it's like 3 years old but tells the story.) To put it short, Open Streets Boise is replacing Goathead Fest. The inaugural Open Streets Boise is happening on Sunday, September 22 from 12-5pm on the Boise bench, on Latah Street from Cassia Street to Crescent Rim. Boise Bicycle Project plans to move the event to a new neighborhood each year, highlighting local businesses in that neighborhood and giving people a taste of what the neighborhood would be like with a designated car-free space. By the way, this whole "shut down the streets and make a car-free party" thing not a new idea. It's inspired by Bogotá's "La Ciclovía," which first came about in the 1970s. In Bogotá, this event happens every week! Every Sunday from 7am-2pm, the Columbian city shuts down 75 miles of streets and highways for people to bike, skate, scoot, and walk freely. More than one million people participate in the event each week, which is about one quarter of the city’s population. Other US cities have “Open Streets” events as well, including big cities like New York, LA, and San Francisco, and also in more Boise-sized cities like Fort Collins, CO, Missoula, MT, and Spokane, WA. Here’s what you can look forward to for the first ever Open Streets Boise. Live music & entertainmentYou can definitely count on the party vibes at Open Streets Boise. There will be two stages, a Main Stage and the Pedal-Powered Stage, which you might recognize from Goathead Fest. That's not just a cutesy name either – the stage is literally powered by people pedaling bicycles. It's pretty cool. Two local bands will perform on the Main Stage: The French Tips and Mungo. And the pedal-powered stage will have local DJs spinning tunes throughout the day. Local businessesA big part of Open Streets Boise is to connect local businesses with people who might not live in or frequent that neighborhood. Neighborhood businesses in the Latah Street area that you can visit include: Push & Pour, which will host a pop-up skatepark and skate competition; Relya Funeral Chapel, which will host a kids bike track in their parking lot; In the Bag Promotions, which will be handing out free bike-related swag like reflectors, gaiters, and have a water station. There’s also a few neighborhood restaurants that you can visit (see below in the food & drink section). All-ages activitiesIf you are planning to bring the fam, there’s a handful of fun activities specifically for kids. Moretracks is hosting a design/thinking activity where kids can invent and build devices to eradicate goatheads; The Cooperative Preschool is hosting a kids sensory table and building blocks; and Charlton Nurseries will have a kids’ planting station where they can choose their own seedlings while learning about plant care, the importance of pollinators, and sustainable gardening practices. Those are just a few of the kid-specific activities. The entire event is kid-friendly! For all ages activities, there will be free music lessons, instruments to try, yoga classes, dance classes, a book bus with free books, and local art vendors to shop. For a few wellness-related activities, you can visit StretchLab, which will be doing 15-minute complimentary assisted stretching sessions or Cold Cowboy Club, which will be setting up cold plunge tubs in the street and have some other wellness-related activities. Food & drinkThere’s some gooood food in this neighborhood. A few of nearby local restaurants to check out during Open Streets Boise are The STIL, Wyld Child, Primal Coffee, and White Rabbit (formerly known as Petite 4. Also they will have their oyster shucker bike in the street with oysters for sale). A handful of local food trucks will also be at the event, including Sunset Soft Serve, Georgie Bea’s, Machu Picchu Peruvian Food Truck, Caribbean A3 Catering, Kona Ice, and Mountain Berry Bowls. Also if you happen to miss the farmers market on Saturday, you can shop at the Boise Farmers Market mini mobile pop-up market. Open spaceThe whole goal of Open Streets is to, well, open up the streets. So you can count on there being plenty of open space to simply bike, walk, skateboard, scooter, or roll around. You can also look forward to pop up street performances from Boise Circus Guild, funky bike races & a race track, and other pop up events taking place in the street. You can learn more about Open Streets Boise here. Also you can pre-register for the event here, sign up to volunteer at the event here, or get involved in another way here. If you have a business and want to sponsor the event, you can do that here. Thanks for reading! Have fun out there! With love from Boise, Marissa
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From Boise
Every Tuesday, read a story about a person, place, piece of Boise history, or local happening. Every Thursday, get a huge list of things to do over the weekend. No news, no politics - just the fun stuff.