After a six year hiatus, the communities of El Monte and South El Monte hosted their first ciclovia – Active Streets “Corazón-del-Valle” – on Sunday, November 2nd. The free community event opened up five miles of streets from the South El Monte Civic Center to the Jeff Seymour Family Center for the public to walk, bike, run, skate, scoot, dance, and play. Made possible by Metro and hosted by the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGVCOG), in partnership with the cities of El Monte and South El Monte, and local non-profit Active San Gabriel Valley, the event was the eleventh open streets event in the San Gabriel Valley since 2015. ​

Thousands of attendees also had a chance to visit the many small businesses on Main Street in El Monte, many of whom activated their storefronts with holiday decor, informational programming and free samples. The City’s historic central district was festively decorated with papel picado, freshly planted marigolds, and community altars. ​

Another first, each activity hub will incorporate some of the latest and greatest, non-polluting, zero-emission technology, allowing the public to see, touch, and feel some of the latest electric technology. Foothill Transit is bringing one of its new, first-in-the-USA, double-decker, electric buses for the public to step aboard (Alhambra Hub). ​

The team at ActiveSGV has also upped its commitment to reducing waste by promoting reusables. Vendors will not permitted to distribute single-use plastic from their booths. Reusable utensil sets including a bamboo fork, knife, spoon, and chopsticks will be raffled off to survey participants, opening ceremony attendees, and event volunteers. Event marketing and promotion will also include reminders for the public to bring their own cup/bottle to the event. 

As always, attendees are strongly encouraged to travel to the event via foot, bike, skate, scooter, and/or public transit. Children four or under ride free on Metro buses and trains, and bikes and scooters may be brought on board at no extra cost.   

Sunday, February 23, 2020 (9a-3p) - CicLAvia South LA 
The 2020 schedule will kick off with a new route connecting neighborhoods in South LA. Easily accessible via the Metro Blue (A) Line, the 6 mile route traverses much of historic Central Avenue in Los Angeles. The 35th cicLAvia to date, the event will also include photo booths, arts & crafts projects, games, and lots of food options. More info at ciclavia.org

Saturday, March 21, 2020 (10a-4p) - Beach Streets 
The City of Long Beach's home-grown ciclovia returns on March 21st with a route connecting to Cal State Long Beach. The 4-mile route will include 4 festival hubs with their own unique vibe, music, activities, and family-friendly activities. If you haven't been to a "Beach Streets" before, Gabe highly recommends checking it out. More info here. 

Other Upcoming Ciclovias! 
Dates sometimes subject to change. Be sure to check back later in the year to confirm!

• Sunday March 29, 2020 - Calles Vivas - Santa Maria Open Streets
• Sunday, April 26, 2020 - cicLAvia to the Sea
• Sunday, May 17, 2020 - Downey Ride-n-Stride

• ​Sunday, August 16, 2020 - cicLAvia Northeast LA
• Sunday, October 11, 2020 - cicLAvia Heart of LA
• Saturday, October 31, 2020 - San Fernando Nocturnal Ride
• Sunday, November 15, 2020 - 626 Golden Streets | ArroyoFest
• Sunday, December 6, 2020 - cicLAvia South LA

PENDING

• TBD (usually September) 2020 - Santa Monica COAST Open Streets

​9. Get a special, spooky #626GoldenStreets t-shirt! Available for sale or by free raffle if you take an event-day survey!!! Visit any Info Booth for details!
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10. Join Gabe and friends for a special tour of the event route. Casual pace with brief stops to regroup. All welcome ! Meet up at 9am at the South El Monte Activity Hub.

11. Play a variety of street and giganto games, located Jeff Seymour Center and South El Monte Activity Hubs.

12. Test ride a variety of electric-assist cargo bikes with @propelbikesusa - South El Monte Activity Hub. 

13. Help us celebrate the launch of El Monte's new Pump Track at the Jeff Seymour Family Center! Inauguration is at 10am!! ​

19) Build with GIANT LEGOS with at the Day One Family Zone in the South Pasadena Hub!!!

20)  Learn a dance routine with Unbound Dance Studio. 1:50-2:20pm at the South Pasadena Activity Hub

21) Master Jakob’s Ladder without having to pay dime! #SouthPasadena Hub

22) Join kids of all ages in playing in one of 3 game zones! #Alhambra, #SouthPasadena, #SanGabriel Hubs.

23) Enjoy specials at 19 businesses along the route, including Happy Hour All Day at 38 Degree Alehouse, Chicken Koop, Dog Haus, and Limericks Tavern! Full list here.

24) Walk or run a 5k, 10k, or ten miler!  👟​

The City of Long Beach brings back its annual "Beach Streets" event on April 27, 2019. Unlike most ciclovias in the region, Beach Streets has traditionally taken place on a Saturday, and the Earth Month 2019 edition is no different. The new event route will traverse almost 2.5 miles of Pacific Avenue, featuring 3 activity hubs along the way. If the event is anything like previous editions, there will be great live music and performers spread across the route, as well as plenty of family-friendly activities at the event hubs. The #ActiveSGV and #626GoldenStreets team has attended several #BeachStreets events in previous years, and can attest to their unique feel, relaxed atmosphere, and diverse offerings. For those attending from inland communities, the Long Beach events also are very accessible via Los Angeles County's major river greenways, including the San Gabriel and Los Angeles River Trails. Although the Blue Line remains under construction - Metro Rail will not be an option for the April 28 Beach Streets event -  we highly recommend making the trek to Long Beach for their popular ciclovia. More info at www.beachstreets.com.

This may be the first time, ever, that back-to-back ciclovias have been hosted in Los Angeles County, with cicLAvia Wilmington following on the heels of Beach Streets in Long Beach. The two events on the weekend of April 27-28 are only a stone's throw apart, too, providing an opportunity for #OpenStreets lovers traveling from further afield to make a weekend of it by booking a room or reserving a warm shower. We thus have dubbed April 27-28, 2019 super ciclovia weekend in SoCal and challenge our friends to make it out to both of these great events. Also noteworthy, the April 28th Wilmington route will be CicLAvia's 30th event, and only the second in this unique part of the City of Los Angeles. Start planning your day on cicLAvia's website here.

After a two-year hiatus -- #GabeTheSasquatch needed a sabbatical after experiencing a fire-and-rain in 2016 and 2017, respectively -- 626 Golden Streets is on track to make up for lost time with two new event routes in 2019! The May 19th event will open five miles of streets in the cities of San Gabriel and Alhambra for the first time. Dubbed "Mission-to-Mission", the route connects the historic San Gabriel Mission in the City of San Gabriel to Mission Street and the historic Mission District in the City of South Pasadena. Each downtown district will feature an array of activities including live music and performances, games, electric bike/scooter/car demos, and more; for a full lineup check out the hub page. The route will also connect directly to the South Pasadena station, allowing for easy event access via the Metro Gold Line. If you like tasting the diversity of southern California - the route is lined with some of the (626)'s best eateries - this will be one of the tastiest ciclovias in 2019. Add the tour of California and Rose Pedal the day prior, and May 18-19, 2019 is shaping up to be an excellent excuse to spend a weekend in the San Gabriel Valley! 

We were not able to find out much about this first-time, multi-jurisdictional ciclovia the Cities of Paramount and Bellflower are planning other than it is scheduled for June 1, 2019, estimated to be a respectable 5.5 miles long, and appears to be the first "loop" ciclovia we have seen staged in Los Angeles County. The City of Paramount was awarded grant funding to host the event within the most competitive field of open streets proposals in Los Angeles County to date (only 15 of 26 applications were awarded funding). Fortunately the silver lining for those projects that did not receive funding was that the Metro Board heard from a number of communities that really want to continue to host these events -- including Long Beach and Santa Monica -- and subsequently authorized a second, mini-grant cycle with an additional $1 million to support community ciclovias (stay tuned for even more open streets events in 2020!). In any event, we strongly encourage folks to get out of their bubbles and explore parts of the County they haven't seen firsthand or normally do not travel to. Open Streets events are an excellent excuse to do so. More info on the City of Paramount's website.

The biggest and most experienced open streets event organizer in Los Angeles County -- over two dozen major ciclovias since 2010 and counting -- cicLAvia will unveil a whole new event route on Sunday August 11, 2019. This will be the City of West Hollywood's first time hosting an open streets event, in partnership with the City of LA City. In the works for several years, the event route has yet to be unveiled, but it is anticipated to be the longest on the 2019 calendar at 6.5 miles. CicLAvia organizers generally release details one event at a time, so save-the-date and stay tuned for more information about this hotly anticipated cicLAvia after their April 28, 2019 event! 

The first (10/10/10) and still one of the best, cicLAvia's Heart of LA route has become an October tradition for open streets lovers in Los Angeles County. Traditionally staged on the first Sunday in October, the 2019 event is scheduled for Sunday October 6th. Each year the event route changes a little bit, connecting LA's historic core to adjacent neighborhoods, including Chinatown, Little Tokyo, MacArthur Park, Boyle Heights, Grand Park, and the Arts District. 

The second 626 Golden Streets event of 2019 will feature a whole new route connecting ActiveSGV's headquarters and the SGV Bicycle Education Center Campus at the Jeff Seymour Family Center in North El Monte to El Monte Main Street and the South El Monte Civic Center. To be staged on a Saturday, the event will feature trick-or-treating stops along the route for costumed participants of all ages, as well as coincide with El Monte's annual Dia de los Muertos celebration on Main Street. The route will also directly link to the Rio Hondo River Path, the El Monte Metrolink Station, and El Monte Bus Station (the largest west of the Mississippi), offering lots of ways to attend without a car. More info to come on the 626 Golden Streets website after the 5/19/19 Mission-to-Mission event.

Last staged on March 31, 2018, the San Fernando Street Festival is back with a new concept on Saturday November 23, 2019. In the 2018 Metro Call for Open Streets projects Metro staff encouraged applicants to consider experimenting with the Open Streets model by staging events with unique themes, building upon other events, and/or at different times of the day than the 9am-4pm window that has become the "standard" for most events in Los Angeles County. Based on the name of San Fernando's 2019 event, it appears the event organizing team took staff's recommendation to heart, and the City will host the only the second evening ciclovia to be staged in Los Angeles County this Fall; the other local, twilight ciclovia was a Beach Streets event hosted by the City of Long Beach in August 2018, which took place from 5-10pm. Event details have yet to be released for the 2019 event, per the San Fernando Street Festival Facebook page.