Get Active, Play in the Street!

Go Play in the Street, RVA!

Remember when you were a kid and kids played outside?  We played in the street and the cardinal rule was when you saw a car everyone yelled “CAR"!” play was paused, you moved to let the car pass, then play was resumed. Well this Saturday, June 22, 2013 from 10am-3pm you can play in the middle of the street and not worry about a single car interfering with your fun.

Take a break from the foodie festivals and check out the latest festival craze sweeping the nation! Atlanta is doing it, so is New York, Chicago, Seattle, Fargo, Madison, Wisconsin, San Diego and about 80 other towns and cities in the United States. Now the City of Richmond in partnership with SportsBackers is joining the initiative and having an Open Streets Project, called StreetsAlive RVA! 

logo/artwork SportBackers

What is this you ask? Well it is awesome! That is what it is! Open Street Projects are health and fitness festival events that are designed to promote exercise and physical activity of all kinds. The goal is to get you outside and moving. Being active doesn’t have to mean training for a marathon, working out with the SEAL teams, or other activities that are exhausting just to think about! If playing in the streets sounds like a fun thing to do, than it's a great added bonus that you burn a few calories on the side.

Since 2005 the number of Open Street Projects in America has gone from approximately 11 a year to 80 a year as of 2012. Not only is this festival fad becoming the “it” thing to do in the U.S., it is a big deal all over the world in one form or another. Seattle is credited with the first Open Street Project, which was started sometime in the 1960s. In the 1970s, Columbia (the country), started closing streets for a period of time on holidays and Sundays for cyclists, known as ciclovia. When translated from Spainsh to English ciclovia means “bike path” or “open streets.” The ciclovia was designed to give people the opportunity to cycle safely without mixing with vehicle traffic. Open Street Projects take it one step farther and make it safe to do all kinds of physical activities in the street without having to yell “CAR”!

So break out your wheels and take to the streets, your self propelled wheels that is---roller blades, roller skates, strollers, scooters, skateboards, big wheels, bicycles, unicycles!!!!!!!!  If you don’t have these kind of wheels, then you can walk or run the 2.5 mile loop and along the way take advantage of the over 50 vendors that will be offering interactive participation activities. There will be jump roping, belly dancing, hula hooping, juggling, boot camps, pickleball, line dancing and so very much more. Organize a group of your friends for a good old game of kickball or pack a picnic and lunch over the James River. In addition to all the activities you’ll be able to dabble in, there will be loads of vendors offering health screenings and information on healthy lifestyle options.   

There should be a festival worthy crowd of supporters, but congestion will hopefully be limited as you go at your own pace and start and stop where it works best for you. If you have to drive to the event be sure to map out your route so you don’t get slowed down by a closed street. 

Should you feel  a need to go off the set loop and explore think about grabbing a pint at Legends, take a tour of Blue Bee Cider, stop in at Plant Zero, visit the Old Dominion Train Museum. If 2.5 miles isn't enough for you, take a stroll along the several trails just off the loop such as the Richmond Slave Trail, the Floodwall, or the Pipeline. Whatever you do, take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity to see Richmond from this unique point of view. If it goes well, we may have another annual festival to enjoy. The festival calendar gets 
better and better every year! 
 

 Cheers!

K&H