Get ready for an action-packed weekend of cycling fun! The inaugural 2024 NC Cycling Festival in historic downtown Mocksville has lots of fun in store.
The first annual NC Cycling Festival traces its roots to the Tour of Farmington, an annual cycling race that occurs each fall. Beginning in 2019, event organizers created an additional spring race, the NC Cycling Rendezvous. After a brief lapse in the event due to COVID, organizers were excited to bring back the event in full force, but this time, with a new face and vision.
The first year of the NC Cycling Rendezvous brought cyclists from as far away as California and Connecticut, and this ambitious new cycling jubilee promises to be bigger and better than ever. The new festival will move from its former location in Farmington to Mocksville, evolving from the former cyclists’ ride to a full weekend affair for all things cycling, complete with food trucks, industry speakers, and a vintage collectors’ bike show.
Allyson Sawtelle, a long-time cycling enthusiast, is the event planner for the 2024 NC Cycling Festival and former president of the Farmington Community Association. She was eager to share her passion for the project.
“I always had this vision of bringing the event back and making it more of a festival atmosphere than a ride,” Sawtelle said enthusiastically.
“In Farmington, we didn’t have the space to accommodate this number of people or the restaurants and pubs to make it a real festival like I was envisioning, so we decided to move it to Mocksville. The downtown is a better fit for logistics, parking, and vendor setup,” she continued.
“The vision is for this to grow and to make Mocksville & Davie County a premier hub for cycling in the Southeast.”
The event kicks off on Friday, April 19th, with a cyclists’ meet and greet at 5 p.m. After the meet and greet, a VIP dinner and live music downtown will keep you jamming into the evening.
Saturday morning will include a vendor booth fair and swap meet, along with activities for the tots still in training wheels. After some family-friendly fun, a family bike parade will commence at noon! The collectors’ vintage bike show will begin shortly after, and the bike riders will begin to depart from the Davie YMCA, riding through downtown on North Main Street and beginning their routes throughout Davie County.
Not one for biking? Don’t worry, there are fun activities for everyone over the course of the weekend:
Sawtelle shared that, in addition to cyclists, they look forward to the community coming out to support the event, which is free to attend.
The NC Cycling Festival hopes to draw a crowd of 3,000 people over the course of the weekend. They are still looking for additional corporate partnerships to make that feat possible. If your business is interested in event sponsorship, you can learn more here.
Vendors can expect a wide audience of participants and customers. Booths need not be limited to cycling-related organizations – all organizations, artisans, and food vendors are welcome. Vendors can participate by signing up here. The deadline to become either a sponsor or vendor is March 31st.
All proceeds from the event benefit the Farmington Community Association in Davie County!
Founded in 1971, the Farmington Community Association is a nonprofit that oversees the properties and operations of the Farmington Community Center, with property that has over a 100-year-old heritage. The Farmington Community Center was home to the former Farmington Primary and High Schools, which instructed grades one through eleven for local Farmington students.
Sawtelle is deeply committed to furthering the association’s mission to serve the Farmington community, having volunteered with the nonprofit for the last ten years.
“Our mission is to preserve the past but promote the future. So we look to the past and honor it, but also look at how people are going to enjoy the community center going forward,” Sawtelle shared.
The Center includes rental facilities, a large nature park, pickleball and basketball courts, as well as hiking and biking trails and a disc golf course.
“We provide a lot of outdoor amenities for free, and we provide nice, affordable rental spaces for people to have celebrations – birthday parties, anniversaries, reunions – a place for people to celebrate those life moments,” she said.
There are five scenic bike routes to choose from on the main Festival day!
$65.00 – Early Registration by April 17, 2024
$75.00 – April 17th, 2024 until April 20th, 2024
Be on the lookout for discount codes – these may be advertised on the NC Cycling Festival website and via their Facebook page.
Click here to register. All participants must sign a waiver to participate.
We can’t wait to see you in downtown Mocksville at the Festival! To learn more, visit https://nccyclingfestival.com or contact Allyson Sawtelle at 336-655-2700 or sawtelle@yadtel.net.