EDWARDSVILLE – The Edwardsville Rotary Criterium Festival is returning to the streets of downtown Edwardsville on Saturday, August 16, for the 15th year with all the excitement spectators have come to expect, plus a fun new opportunity for the community to take a spin on the course.
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A series of high-speed races for professional and novice men, women and junior racers are scheduled for 2-10:30 p.m. along a five-turn course through the heart of downtown Edwardsville. Spectators can gather along the route as well as in the Entertainment Zone in the middle of it all, on St. Louis Street and North Main Street; it will feature food trucks, beverages and live entertainment from 2-11 p.m. to coincide with the races. The Criterium will take place rain or shine, said Brian Mulhall, the festival director and member of the service organization that hosts the Criterium, the Edwardsville Rotary Club.
A separate Kids Zone, set up in the parking lot next to the Wildey Theatre at 252 N. Main Street, will feature art activities, games and free bike helmets and fittings, while supplies last, from 2-6 p.m.
The free races for kids are a returning favorite and will begin at 5:15 p.m. A new attraction, set for 5:45 p.m., is the Community Ride, which will allow cyclists to experience the Criterium excitement directly on the course but at a more comfortable pace. The City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee members will lead the Community Ride, which Mulhall hopes will become a popular part of the annual festival.
“I heard about these rides a couple of years ago. I was like, ‘A community ride? That could be kind of cool,’” Mulhall said. “Once you’ve been around the course, you have a lot more respect for what the racers do.”
Anyone who wants to participate in a ride must register. Pre-register online at EdwardsvilleCriterium.page or BikeReg.com. Day-of registration will be at the MCT bus terminal at Hillsboro Avenue and North Main Street.
To accommodate the races and festival, multiple streets will close by 11 a.m. Saturday, August 16, and remain closed until shortly after the festival ends. Detours will be marked. Street parking will be restricted prior to the closures. The impacted roads are:
Main Street will be closed from High Street to Park Street. Union Street will serve as a detour on the north end of Main Street.
Vandalia Street will be closed from Kansas Street to just east of Clay Street. Schwarz Street or Union Street will serve as detour roads.
North Second Street will be closed from St. Louis Street to High Street.
St. Louis Street will be closed from the Busey Bank area, 330 W. Vandalia Street, to North Main Street. A smaller portion of St. Louis Street, between North Main and Second streets, where the Land of Goshen Community Market typically operates, will close at 8 a.m. for Entertainment Zone setup.
The City is a presenting sponsor of the event, one of numerous community supporters for the Criterium, which raises funds for the Edwardsville Rotary Club’s community projects. Visit edwardsvillecriterium.page to learn more.
Another neat feature of this year’s Criterium weekend is the one-day relocation of the Land of Goshen Community Market from its usual downtown site to Lewis & Clark Community College’s N.O. Nelson Complex, 600 Troy Road. Market hours remain the same – 8 a.m. to noon. To learn more, visit the Goshen Market’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/goshenmarket.
