Details Announced for Third Annual Vernon Bike Fest

PRESS RELEASE: North Okanagan Cycling Society

The North Okanagan Cycling Society is excited to announce the return of its Vernon Bike Fest for the third year in a row on May 2-5 in Vernon, B.C. The festival, which features five key events throughout four days, was created by the society to celebrate mountain bike culture in the Okanagan Valley.

“Our intent is for riders from throughout the valley and beyond to start their season together in a festival-like atmosphere with some of the best early-season conditions in the interior,” explains NOCS spokesperson, Dudley Coulter. “There’s nothing really like this in the Okanagan, and with the popularity of multi-day festivals in the industry, we figured why not.”

On Thursday night there will be a movie screening at the Towne Cinema: Reverence: A Journey Into Fear featuring Darren Barrecloth and Beautiful Idiot featuring Vernon’s Brett Rheeder. Then, on Friday night, mountain bikers will gather to drink beer, eat pizza and take in some live music at Ratio Coffee & Pastry. The costume theme is ‘biking through the ages’ so pick your favourite era and come prepared to party!

On Saturday, riders can choose to test their limits at the Good Old Fashioned Bike Race featuring laps around a 3.8 km course, a ‘tight and bright’ costume contest, a retro mountain bike ‘show and shine’ and plenty of prizes.For those who don’t feel like riding around in the woods in bright spandex, the festival is hosting the inaugural Rail Trail Art Ride allowing cyclists to cruise along the newly constructed Okanagan Rail Trail on Kalamalka Lake while checking out various live art installations.

Wrapping up the Vernon Bike Fest is a Demo Day with 10 brands on-site: Giant, Ibis, Kona, Norco, Pivot, Rocky Mountain, Salsa, Santa Cruz, Specialized and Trek. There will be guided rides courtesy of Happy Trails MTB Skills Development, food trucks and more.


NOCS recommends camping at Ellison Provincial Park which is attached to the Ellison trail network where both the race and demo day will take place. Details here.

For further details on the Vernon Bike Fest, go here.


The North Okanagan Cycling Society (NOCS) is the voice for mountain biking in the North Okanagan. With over 800 members in 2019, NOCS advocates for new trails and facilities, protects and maintains existing ones, and hosts organizes a variety of events and youth and adult programs throughout the year.