Cyclovia Takes Over Downtown Tampa Sunday

Dancing in the middle of downtown Tampa’s Kennedy Boulevard isn’t normally advised, but Sunday isn’t going to be a typical day.

That’s when the second annual Cyclovia Tampa Bay event races into town, turning one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares into a playground for pedestrians and cyclists.

“It’s a new way to experience downtown,” explained Karen Kress, director of transportation and planning for the Tampa Downtown Partnership. “It’s really fun to stand in the middle of Kennedy Boulevard and say, ‘Look Mom, no hands.’ ”

During the Sunday, Oct. 25 event, Kennedy Boulevard will be closed to automobile traffic from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. so Tampa Bay area residents can come out and walk, ride, skip, jump or even dance on the roadway, Kress said. The event is designed to be dog and family friendly both and is sponsored by the partnership, the City of Tampa, Tampa BayCycle and a host of other organizations.

Walking and biking on Kennedy might be a big enough draw for some, but Kress said attendees can expect even more. Food trucks and lots of activities are planned along each block of Kennedy Boulevard throughout the event. The “DanceWalk,” for example, takes off from Joe Chillura Courthouse Square on the corner of Madison Avenue and Morgan Street at noon.

Cyclovia was inspired by a similar event staged weekly in Bogota, Colombia. That regular tradition involves the closing of a number of city streets weekly to create “safe and open, car-free environments for families to run, bike, play and be well together,” the event’s website explains.

A similar event was also staged recently in Temple Terrace and the city of St. Petersburg has plans to host its own Cyclovia next year, Kress said.

“There’s tons to do and it’s all free (except for the food trucks),” she said. “When else can you come out and play in the middle of the street?”

For more information about Cyclovia, visit its website.

Photo courtesy of the Downtown Tampa Partnership