This past Saturday, bicyclists from Kansas City shared the Ward Parkway with fellow walkers and cyclists for the city’s first annual Cycle in the City event.

Put on by the Public Works Department, Cycle in the City is an open street festival that aims to make the car-centric community more walkable and friendly to bike riders.

According to Deb Ridgway, Kansas City’s bicycle pedestrian coordinator, “we let cars take over. The idea behind Cycle in the City “is to get people out and active and to really see their neighborhood in a new way.”

In total, the first annual event attracted hundreds of Kansas City locals that were eager and ready to take on the two mile loop. The event was not just limited to biking – it also included a climbing wall, yoga classes, dance classes, a bike safety course, food stands and lawn games. Needless to say, it drew out families with kids from every age group.

The event originally began back in 1974 in Bogota, Colombia, and has spread from Europe to Australia and now the United States. It is such a popular event, that the entire event was paid for with a $85,590 federal transportation grant and local sponsorships.

Deb Ridgway states that, “we’re starting with Ward Parkway because it’s our most iconic. We want to take this to a different neighborhood every year.” The goal of hosting the event is to try and make it an annual event throughout Kansas City every year.