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The Les Vielles pédals festival in Chartres (Eure-et-Loir), an “inflated festival” as it describes itself. Did you enjoy the first edition of this meeting place for lovers of the Little Queen of yesteryear? He’s back the 12-13 and 14 May 2023.
And in view of the real popular success of the 2022 edition, the organizers wanted to do even more for this 2023 vintage. You will know a lot about it.
Retro, bike, hike
The festival will be THE opening event of the season of Cycling getawaysand highlighted as such by the Centre-Val de Loire region, which will also result in a more marked presence of the latter at the festival itself.
This festival is as much about retro as it is about cycling and hiking.
Les Vieilles Pédales aims to be a joyful melting pot (and friends) of bicycle enthusiasts, vintage but also lovers of discovering local heritage and local products.
Of course, all bathed in a festive and musical atmosphere delightfully retro.
On the program: walks, a vintage fair, repair workshops, exhibitions, concerts, a team bike challenge, a flower bike competition, a flea market parts and vintage bikes…
And a single watchword “long live freedom!” »
Peek into the retro of cyclos
For the first edition, the Old Pedals exceeded their expectations in terms of attendance:
- 10000 visitors
- 45 exhibitors
- 350 walk participants
- 4 concerts
- 3 dance initiations
- 3 walks of 25 to 45 km
With participants from all over the department of Eure-et-Loir, the Paris region and the surrounding regions, the organizers can only be confident for this new edition which is certainly set to grow over the years.
A festival with style!
The festival responds to a real expectation indeed. Certainly nostalgic for these materials of yesteryear but above all for a need to find themselves in a suspended moment, together, with family or friends.
Whether it’s the bikes or those who ride them, the vintage spirit is in the spotlight! So, whether it’s more casual, sporty, glamorous or dressy, participants are invited to take care of their style and that of their bike.
Everything that dates fromavant 1987 is in the spirit of Les Vieilles Pédales.
■ Randos “keep it under the pedal” : old-fashioned rides go from 30 to 85 km with routes to choose from that will allow you to discover the richness and beauty of the local heritage of Chartres and its surroundings.
■ “Anti-failure” hikes : After the effort, comfort! Along the route: tastings, curiosities, visits and entertainment will be offered to the brave cyclists. And of course, a lunch break in a chosen setting.
The animations
Les Vieilles pédals offer outings but also lots of entertainment all around not to be missed, always in the same vintage atmosphere.
■ Retro fair and bike flea market Place Châtelet and Butte des Charbonniers. Exhibition of collection cycles, sale of old bicycles, exchange of parts, sales of accessories and retro clothing, record stores…
■ Animations : Bicycle repair workshops, retro dance initiations, flowery bicycle competitions, pin-ups, gastronomy and local products… Many food trucks for all tastes, refreshments and large terraces…
Take the vintage bike challenge!
In the spirit of the first velocipede competitions organized in Chartres from 1869. The principle is simple: one bike, two people and several laps of Parc André-Gagnon at
complete, in a race full of surprises.
Part of the profits will be donated to a humanitarian association.
Un univers musical old school
Throughout the weekend, groups and DJs will follow one another to ensure the atmosphere, in vintage mode: jazz swing, garage rock, electro-retro… with dance initiation, lindyup.
What to lose the pedals.
An association with its head in the handlebars all year round
To support the development of cycling and its inherent way of life, the association
The Old Pedals offers year-round entertainment and an annual event celebrating the Little Queen:
- Organization of the Vieilles Pédales festival.
- Bike loan to students involved in the organization of the festival or the association.
- Cycling challenges in Chartres and the agglomeration…
- Repair workshops and walks.
The association intends to ensure the promotion of the use of the bicycle as a means of daily transport, to favor the reuse rather than scrapping, collaborating with other local bicycle-related associations, recalling good practices and traffic rules for a peaceful sharing of the roadexchanging know-how to promote the autonomy of cyclists.
On the menu of this second edition
■ Friday 12 May 2023 (from 2 p.m.)
- Vintage fair and flea market
- Tour of the guinguettes
- Guinguette aperitif evening
■ Saturday May 13, 2023
- Vintage fair and flea market
- Various animations
- Ballade of 50 km
- Ballade of 30 km
- Concerts and dance party
■ Sunday, May 14, 2023
- Vintage fair and flea market
- Various animations
- Ballade of 80 km
- Ballade of 25 km
- Bike challenge
- Closing of the festival
Inscription on line. Conditions of registration: bicycles from before 1987 and clothing appropriate to the mount necessary to participate in the vintage rides and the bike challenge. Fixie, neo-retro, beach cruiser accepted.
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