Thank you so much to all those who joined us for the virtual Cycle Touring Festival. It was a fantastic weekend and I’ve had an overwhelming amount of positive feedback about the event. Most of all, huge thanks to all our speakers, contributors and volunteers for making it happen.
How many people took part?
Over 1,100 different people signed in to live events over the course of the weekend, from all over the world. Our maximum capacity at the ‘real’ festival is approximately 300, so it’s fantastic that we were able to welcome such large numbers this year. That doesn’t take into account how many people watched pre-recorded content and didn’t join any live events – the actual number of people involved in the festival could have been much higher.
How much money was raised for the Coronavirus Appeal?
We raised a total of £3,316 through our Just Giving page (which remains open for those who still wish to donate!) and £1,210 through the sale of t-shirts and stem caps. Every single penny of profit from the sale of this merchandise went to charity.
This means we raised £4,526 for the coronavirus appeal, which is absolutely brilliant. Thanks to everyone for their generosity.
How long will the festival events be available to view?
The programme will stay up on our website indefinitely, so you can continue to access pre-recorded content for as long as the owner of that content keeps it online.
For those who signed up to the CTF Slack platform, we are currently planning to keep this open so please continue to use it if you wish to.
Links to the festival content and Slack can be found in the Virtual CTF programme, available here.
Were the live webinars recorded and can I watch them again?
Most of the live webinars were recorded and we are hoping to upload them in the next few weeks. Once that happens, links to view those webinars will go up on our website and it will be announced via this newsletter. We just need to do some paid work first…
When will I receive my CTF t-shirt / stem cap?
All orders have now been submitted and we hope they will be delivered in the next couple of weeks. If you haven’t received it by the end of May, please let us know.
Our friends at Ghyllside Cycles in Ambleside are very kindly processing all the merchandise orders for us. Huge thanks to them for doing this – if you’re in the market for a new bike or touring gear, or ever looking for a bike shop in the Lake District, please look them up!
Will you do a virtual festival again?
Depending on how long the current restrictions last for, we may host one-off events over the coming weeks and months. These will be announced via this newsletter.
A few people have asked whether we could stream talks and workshops from the ‘real’ festival in future years. We are thinking about whether we could make this work within our financial, time and technological constraints. Watch this space.
And finally…looking for ways to stay active during lockdown?
The very wonderful Adventure Syndicate are running a Match the Miles challenge from Monday 11 May – Friday 15 May. It’s free to take part and there are prizes available! Find out more on their website here.