Rotorua Bike Festival gets public feedback

Ride the Runway is a popular event at the Rotorua Bike Festival. Photo/File

Rotorua Bike Festival's public forum saw locals come together to share feedback and bounce ideas off each other to make next year's event even bigger and better.

The forum was held on Tuesday at the Holiday Inn where people were invited to give feedback and suggestions.

Rotorua Bike Festival director Megan Dimozantos says they were happy with the turnout of about 30 people and were pleased with the mix of people who took part.

Although most participants were people previously involved in biking, there were some who had not been, she says.

She says people who attended included local inner city businesses, councillors and the trail running club.

"This is the first one we've held. We did an anonymous survey both last year and this year, but you don't get the opportunity to bounce ideas off people."

Megan says there were suggestions of how the festival could be more inclusive for different community groups.

These included the business community, schools, families, Maori, other sporting clubs and the broader community outside the biking community, she says.

She says another important point was how the festival could help make cycling an everyday activity.

Megan says people wanted to bring back the Coast and Bike Speedway events, and there were a few suggestions for events they would take on board.

"The key message in terms of events is we are keen for people to run them and they don't have to be bikers. We will support them to run an event.

"We can help them to get there, but we do rely on the good will of the community which is also what makes the Rotorua Bike Festival so special too."