The Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota and Our Streets Minneapolis have teamed up to host a panel for the 20th annual Bicycle Film Festival. The festival, which runs from February 26th through March 6th, 2021, gathers cycling enthusiasts and showcases films, and captures the intersection between art and bikes.
“BikeMN and Our Streets Minneapolis are glad to welcome the Bike Film Festival back to Minnesota to celebrate biking and community through such a difficult year,” said Dorian Grilley, BikeMN Executive Director. “We’re honored to help uplift the work and voices of longtime local advocates and welcome new fixtures in the community who work to make the cycling community better.”
The panel, a collaborative effort between the two organizations, will highlight change-makers in the Minnesota cycling community working to diversify the cycling community and culture in our state. The panel will feature Louis Moore, president of the Major Taylor bicycling club, Ashley Zapata and Madilynn Garcia of Stamina Racing Collective, local activist Wesley Ferguson and organizer Paige Ingram.
BikeMN and OurStreets hope to capture the breadth of efforts to diversify all facets of Minneapolis cycling culture through the unique perspectives of the panelists. Moore has headed the Major Taylor Bicycling Club for nearly 20 years, while Stamina Racing Collective is approaching their first season as a team.
Wesley Ferguson is a recognizable and friendly face in the Twin Cities. He is perhaps best known for offering spontaneous bike repair to protestors during the summer of 2020, or for his YouTube channel WesleyAndFriends.
Like Wesley, Ingram gained notoriety in Minneapolis this past summer. Ingram organized the Juneteenth Revolutionary Blackout Bike Ride with Slow Roll and Free Black Dirt, which rode to the George Floyd Memorial at 38th and Chicago.
The Bicycle Film Festival looks drastically different from years past; the festival is entirely virtual in 2021. A ticket to the event buys access to 90 minutes of short-film content, as well as the panel discussion. The short film program features a wide array of stories curated from all corners of the globe, from a BMX crew in Nigeria and female bike messengers in New York City to the story of Marshall ‘Major’ Taylor.
Watch the Bike Film Festival panel discussion on our YouTube page here.