The Round the Mountain Festival is set to go for this Sunday, June 29, 2019, rain or shine.
It’s the event’s 9th year in a row, combining activities and races for all ages and abilities. There will be a full day of music, food trucks, a climbing wall, silent auction and beer gardens alongside both trail running and biking events.
The event kicks off Sunday morning with registration and a free shuttle bus service (from the Kimberley Visitor’s Centre) at 6 a.m.. The first race starts at 7 a.m. followed by races and activities all day long, until 4 p.m..
READ MORE: Still time to register for Round the Mountain
Event organizers and volunteers are busy gearing up for the event this week, recently posting to Facebook to notify racers to “be prepared for the weather, whatever that may be”.
Volunteers are working on clearing the trails of debris this week, which they say should be cleared by Sunday morning. More trail prep is ongoing this week as well.
If you are a racer, be sure to follow along on the RTM Facebook page, where updates are posted daily. According to the page, most of the routes are available on the Trail Forks app and website.
One goal of the Round the Mountain Festival is to be a zero waste event. Organizers are encouraging everyone who comes to bring their own travel coffee mugs, reusable water bottles and beer mugs.
Last year the event was very successful with very little waste, resulting in only one bag of garbage. The year prior there was just 1.5 bags of garbage.
READ MORE: Let’s talk about festival trash
“[The] biggest culprit of trash going to landfill - takeout coffee cups brought to the event,” reads a post on their page. “These cups can’t be recycled. So everyone use your own reusable travel mug, these are also accepted at Starbucks and Tim Hortons, even through their drive through.”
They are also encouraging racers and friends or family members attending the festival to take the free bike friendly bus shuttle with Kimberley Transit. The Kimberley Nordic Centre has limited parking, so a service is offered starting at 6 a.m., running every 20 to 30 minutes until noon, leaving from the Kimberley Visitor’s Centre.
After 12 p.m., the shuttle will continue every 20 to 30 minutes, leaving from the festival. Bus stops include the Nordic Centre, the Ski Hill south parking lot and the Visitor’s Centre located downtown Kimberley in the Platzl Parking lot.