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03.21.09
R.I.P. Pedro's Festival
Economic downturn blamed for
ending the region's premier mountain bike festival.
A rider catches air at Pedro's
Festival.
by
Dan Mathers
Just when you're sick of hearing about the bad economy killing jobs,
slashing home values and burying the stock market, now it's responsible
for screwing riders out of the best time in New England mountain biking
—
Pedro's Festival.
The organizers of the
mountain bike festival formerly known as Pedro's Festival
—
but renamed Kenda Bikefest last year
—
have announced they are canceling the festival because of the economic
downturn.
The 3-day festival,
where riders could stay and camp all weekend, was started in western
Massachusetts in 1995 and grew into what was billed as the biggest
non-competitive mountain bike event in North America. With a popular mud
bog race, fun rides, bands, demos, and slew of pro riders, the festival
was widely considered the best mountain bike festival around.
But last month,
festival organizers released a statement saying they couldn't produce
the festival anymore. "In the current economic climate, producing the
festival has become too expensive to remain viable," read the statement.
"The costs of doing business have continued to rise while the number of
people attending has dropped off since mountain biking was in its
heyday."
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