Fort Collins, Colo., Oct. 29, 2015 – New Belgium Brewing’s Tour de Fat, a traveling tour of bicycle advocacy and hilarity in charity, raised $647,668 for local nonprofits this season, totaling more than $4 million in its 16-year stretch. This year’s total is up more than $20,000 from last year. The event is free, but all proceeds from beer and merchandise sales and donations in each city go to local nonprofit organizations focused on making communities a better place to ride a bike.
Tour de Fat celebrates bicycle culture, kicking off each festival with a costumed bike parade through city streets. After the parade, thousands gather for a day of eclectic entertainment, New Belgium beer, bike-themed festivities, live music, carnival variety tents and delicious local food trucks and more. At each stop, New Belgium works with local sustainability partners to divert waste from landfills, encouraging beer and bike fans to think twice about recycling.
Tour de Fat traveled to 10 cities between May and October this year, attracting a total of 112,000 beer and bike enthusiasts. New Belgium’s hometown of Fort Collins had the most festival-goers, totaling 25,000 people and the Tour de Fat stop in Denver, Colo. raised the most money ($113,305). To see how each city performed, a breakdown is included below.
Tour de Fat also hosted the ninth annual car-for-bike swap, where one brave role model in each city stepped on stage to trade in car keys and pledge to live car-free for one year. Each swapper received a $2,250 stipend to buy their own commuter bike in exchange for their car. Vehicles for Charity auctioned the swapped cars, with proceeds benefitting Tour De Fat’s local nonprofit partners. Each of the swappers is encouraged to blog about their adventures as a two-wheeled local rock star. To read their tales from the road, visit the car-for-bike trade blog at TradeMyCarForABike.Tumblr.com.
“What we’ve created can be hard to describe – part alter-ego beer festival; part cycling advocacy; part amazing, but sometimes perplexing entertainment, but when you put it all together it just works,” said Matt Kowal, Tour de Fat Impresario. “This year we passed the $4 million mark, an incredible feat, which means great things are happening in cycling communities across the country. That’s the best part of this whole thing and we can’t wait to do it again next year!”
Tour de Fat Breakdown City-by-City
Grand Totals
- Total Funds Raised: $647,668 (not including auctioned car proceeds; up $21,952 from 2014)
- Attendees: 112,000 (up 8,500 people from 2014)
Washington, D.C. – May 30
- Total Funds Raised: $65,334 (up $8,287 from 2014)
- Attendees: 9,000 (up 2,000 people from 2014)
Durham, NC – June 20
- Total Funds Raised: $29,559 (up $4,135 from 2014)
- Attendees: 4,000
Chicago, IL – July 11
- Total Funds Raised: $51,141 (up $19,315 from 2014)
- Attendees: 8,000 (up 3,000 people from 2014)
Minneapolis, MN – July 25
- Total Funds Raised: $36,247
- Attendees: 5,000
Boise, ID – August 15
- Total Funds Raised: $66,556
- Attendees: 10,500 (up 500 from 2014)
Ft. Collins, Colo. – September 5 – highest attendance
- Total Funds Raised: $94,241
- Attendees: 25,000
Denver, CO – September 12 – most money raised
- Total Funds Raised: $113,305 (up $12,302 from 2014)
- Attendees: 20,000 (up 2,000 from 2014)
San Francisco, CA – September 19
- Total Funds Raised: $42,713 (up $540 from 2014)
- Attendees: 8,000 (up 500 from 2014)
San Diego, CA – September 26
- Total Funds Raised: $43,003
- Attendees: 7,500 (up 500 from 2014)
Tempe, AZ – October 3
- Total Funds Raised: $105,567 (up $5,567 from 2014)
- Attendees: 15,000
About New Belgium Brewing Company
New Belgium Brewing, makers of Fat Tire Amber Ale and a host of Belgian-inspired beers, is recognized as one of Outside Magazine’s Best Places to Work and one of the Wall Street Journal’s Best Small Businesses. The 100% employee-owned brewery is a Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Business as designated by the League of American Bicyclists, one of World Blu’s Most Freedom-Centered Workplaces, and a Certified B Corp. In addition to Fat Tire, New Belgium brews ten year-round beers; Ranger IPA, Rampant Imperial IPA, Shift Pale Lager, Slow Ride Session IPA, Snapshot Wheat, Sunshine Wheat, 1554 Black Lager, Blue Paddle Pilsner, Abbey Belgian Ale and Trippel. Learn more at NewBelgium.com.
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