This week Interbike announced a brand new east coast event called The Fall CycloFest set for October 20-23, 2016 at the US National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, NC. The first two days of the event will be open to retailers and media only while the second half of the event will be open to consumers as well.
Interbike is making it clear that this is not meant to replace the annual tradeshow which happens in Las Vegas each September. Instead, organizers are positioning Fall CycloFest as an alternative to the Outdoor Demo portion of the Interbike tradeshow.
In addition to bike and equipment demos, Fall CycloFest will feature tech seminars and educational opportunities for shop personnel and there’s even a heavy live music component planned for the event as well. Also, unlike Outdoor Demo, Fall CycloFest will be open to the general public for two days with access to demo bikes from attending brands.
Organizers say they chose Charlotte for its central location to east coast dealers (concentrated most heavily in the southeast), access to the large Charlotte airport, and the excellent facilities at the USNWC which includes 25 miles of trails.
We’re definitely excited to see how retailers and consumers respond to this event. The short-lived Southeast Bike expo, held in the Atlanta area for three years from 2012-2014, puts a bit of a question mark over how successful this type of event might be, though our fingers are crossed. We hope to attend the inaugural event next year to see how it goes!
Full details from Interbike can be found here.
