New Belgium Brewing Announces 2015 Tour de Fat

It was a bicycle trip through Belgium in 1989 that inspired Jeff Lebesch to return to Colorado and found New Belgium Brewing. Years later, the love of bicycles and their ability to build sustainable, vibrant communities remains a driving force behind everything the company does. As part of an ongoing effort to give back to the communities that support them, New Belgium Brewing hosts the annual Tour de Fat, a traveling bike festival and fundraiser that will roll across the US beginning May 30, 2015 in Washington DC.

Now in its fifteenth year, the Tour de Fat combines a love of bikes, beer and good old-fashioned fun for a day of festivities in the name of doing good. The daylong carnival kicks off with a costumed bike parade before rolling into a city park for an afternoon of entertainment. Everything from vaudeville acts to dance competitions to musical performances grace the eclectic and eccentric stage, while New Belgium Brewing heartily encourages attendees to embrace their alter egos and show up as their wildest selves.

While the festival is free to attend, all proceeds from beer and merchandise sales as well as parade donations are given directly to local non-profits in the host city. Since its inception, the Tour de Fat has raised close to $4 million for non-profits across the U.S., with over $600,000 of that raised last year alone.

This year the Tour de Fat will roll through these ten U.S. cities, bringing as much fun as they can fit on a bike and leaving scarcely an environmental footprint behind:

Washington, D.C.                   May 30                                     Yards Park
Durham, NC                            June 20                                    Diamond View Park
Chicago, IL                              July 11                                       Palmer Square
Twin Cities, MN                     July 25                                      Loring Park
Boise, ID                                  August 15                                 Ann Morrison Park
Fort Collins, CO                     September 5                            Civic Center Park
Denver, CO                             September 12                           City Park
San Francisco, CA                 September 19                           Lindley Meadow – Golden Gate Park
San Diego, CA                        September 26                          Golden Hill Park
Tempe, AZ                              October 3                                  Tempe Beach Park

To view the full schedule, photos, and videos, or to pledge to swap your car for a bike for a full year, visit the Tour de Fat Facebook page. To find out more about New Belgium Brewing and the amazing work they do both in the brewery and in the community, check out the company website.