My favorite part, the funeral for the automobile.

Though it is only in its third year in Austin, the Tour de Fat has become a well antipated event in the cycling community. A one day celebration of all things bicycle and funeral for the car the festival has a great bike parade, music, a funky bike pit, and good food and brews with proceeds benefiting Austin Yellow Bike Project, Austin Cycling Association, and  Austin Ridge Riders Mountain Bike Club. I spoke earlier this week with national Tour de Fat and New Belgium Brewery employee Michael Craft for a little more info on the the event.

The New Belgium Brewery has the bicycle at its heart from the beginning. Brewery founder Jeff Lebesch got the idea to start brewing while biking across northern Europe and sampling all the great Belgium beers. The employee owned brewery was started in 1991 in Ft. Collins, CO with the aptly named Fat Tire Beer and a bike culture similar to many small and medium sized bicycle manufacturers. By 1999, a guy with a love for NBB beer and bicycles threw the first Tour de Fat in a Ft. Collins park with a Tacoma pickup carrying a keg of beer. About seventy five people showed up for the first event. At the 10 year anniversary this year, 15,000 people showed up with 8,000 participating in the bike parade.

There are tons of funky bikes to ride in the bike pit.

The Austin stop will be the last Tour de Fat stop in 2009 and the 104th stop in the last 10 years. In addition to celebrating bicycles and beer, the New Belgium Brewery puts its money where its mouth is by making the event about changing and improving communities. All the proceeds from event beer sales go to local bicycle non-profits and in addition to trash cans recycling and composting cans circle the event. Food vendors are required to make compostable food, and the equipment for the show is run on solar and bio-diesel. In addition, an individual is chosen in each city to trade their car for a bicycle. (The Austin winner hasn’t been picked and you can still apply.)

Some have questioned staging a festival on the weekend of the Texas-OU football game, but Craft says they purposely choose weekends that have other events going on. “We want this to be about community and the bike, not just about drinking beer,” Craft said.

Tour de Fat
Saturday, October 17
Fiesta Gardens, 2101 Bergman Ave

Costumes are encouraged for the Bike Parade.

* 9:00 a.m. – Bike Parade Registration ($5 suggested donation to benefit sponsored non-profits)
* 10:00 a.m. – Bike Parade
* 11:00 p.m. Performances Begin
* 1:30 p.m. – “Carpocalypse Now” – Funeral procession for the car belonging to the Car-for-Bike Trade volunteer
* 3:30 p.m. – Car-for-Bike Trade Celebration
* 4:00 p.m. – Curtain Closes

Featuring:
* Sean Hayes
* March Fourth Marching Band
* Handsome Little Devils present: Squirm Burpee Circus
* The Dare Devil Chicken Club Presents: Honeymoon Cabaret

Related posts:

1. Bike fest Tour De Fat scheduled for Saturday, October 17 ...
2. Tour de Fat looking for volunteers ...
3. Tasty Touring’s South Austin Food Trailer Tour This Saturday ...
4. Trade your car for a bike? New Belgium Brewery wants to put you into some great wheels ...
5. Mellow Johnny’s Tour de France Launch Party Today 6-11pm ...