The City of Irvine held CicloIrvine, its first car-free Open Streets event on May 4, which featured live music, art, free food, information booths and other activities.

Nearly two miles of Barranca Parkway and Harvard Avenue were closed to cars during this event, allowing people to walk and bike. To highlight the City’s dedication to community engagement and environmental sustainability, the City set up three hubs along the trail, each with a performance stage, a water station and several tents for attendees to learn about how to support and connect with local businesses.

“We created this event so we could ride our bikes and scooter down or walk down the streets and really get a feel for how we can use our streets for more than just cars,” mayor Farrah Khan said. “CicloIrvine is the first Open Streets event we’ve done, so we’re hoping that with this success, we’ll be able to hold more events like this in the future.”

From playing cornhole and watching cultural performances by local youth groups to winning free gifts and sampling fresh food at the various hubs, attendees learned about ways to stay healthy and protect the environment while spending time with friends and family. The City also offered free pedicabs for attendees to travel from hub to hub.

“I definitely hope the City hosts more events like these in the future,” sophomore Anh Vo said. “It was so cool to see people of all ages doing different activities and playing games together.”

By hosting family-friendly events like CicloIrvine, the City hopes to garner community support for their efforts to reduce Irvine’s carbon footprint. Along with other environmental initiatives like the newly-launched Irvine CONNECT Shuttle and the ongoing Cool Irvine campaign, the City is actively working toward achieving carbon neutrality by monitoring and addressing climate-related issues.

To learn more about Irvine’s environmental programs, visit the city website at cityofirvine.org or direct any specific questions to Davis at [email protected].