This weekend, April 28th – 30th, a major new event will take place around the Slieve Bloom mountain bike trails. The Slieve Bloom Mountain Bike Festival is a three-day festival event intended to showcase the spectacular Slieve Bloom Mountain Bike Trails. Located in Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, the trails offer over 100km of riding on fast and flowing single track.
What to expect
The festival is Ireland’s premier family mountain bike event. It kicks off with a ‘Cross Country Fun Enduro’ and ‘Family Trail Quest’ on Friday, the ‘Coillte Biking Blitz’ on Saturday and Sunday. Attendees can also enjoy the ‘Big Bike Movie Night’ on Friday and live music on Saturday night.
The ‘Coillte Biking Blitz’ is a mass start cross-country event, with something for everyone. There are three categories for adults to choose from: Novice; E-Bike; or Expert, plus youth events for 6-year-olds and up.
Event organiser, Niall Davis, commented that:
‘Ireland is long overdue a mountain bike festival and we’re sure that the Slieve Bloom mountain bike trails will deliver a top class event.’
Head of Recreation for Coillte, Daithi deForge, welcomes the creation of the new festival. “Coillte is the largest provider of outdoor recreation in Ireland, with 12 forest parks, 260 recreational forests and over 3,000km of marked walking trails. The Slieve Bloom MTB trails which span the Offaly and Laois borders are just one of five national mountain bike centres which Coillte has created. Events like the Coillte Biking Blitz and the new Slieve Blooms MTB Festival will showcase these world-class trails to the domestic and growing international audience.”
Failte Ireland commented, “Festivals and events are a key element of the tourism offering in Ireland. Fáilte Ireland is pleased to support this year’s Slieve Bloom MTB Festival, which will showcase Ireland’s fantastic outdoor activity offering to domestic and international visitors. Developing unique visitor events like Slieve Bloom MTB Festival plays an important role in the recovery of the tourism sector for Laois and Offaly.
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Big Bike Movie Night – Giltraps Townhouse
The Big Bike Film Night is an evening dedicated to the love of cycling. It brings the best cycling short films from around the world together for the viewer. The 2023 collection has a range of short movies that all celebrate the fun, adventure, and joy that cycling enables.
Live Music – Slieve Bloom Bar, Kinnitty Village
The Live Music night will be a celebration of traditional Irish music. Performed to truly entertain and keep the energy high between Day 1 and Day 2 of the Biking Blitz events!
More information
