The Boise Goathead Fest has a long and joyful history, but it’s time for a fresh start. Organizers with the Boise Bicycle Project (BBP) are hoping that Open Streets Boise can build off the festival’s momentum by shutting down car access to Latah Street on Sept. 22 for a new festival. To learn more about how the “pie-in-the-sky idea” became reality, Hey Boise sat down with BBP Communications Manager Whitney Schrader and Director of Bicycle Advocacy Nina Pienaar.
What motivated the transition from the Goathead Fest into a new event concept?
Schrader: “One thing we noticed with [Boise Goathead Fest] is the event didn’t always attract the people that we serve in our programs or in our shop, and it was a lot of lift for our team. Once the idea of Open Streets Boise came, it just made sense to merge the two together and to evolve the Boise Goathead Fest.”
Pienaar: “Yeah, it’s super exciting because Goathead Fest [was] a celebration of the bicycle community in Boise, and [Open Streets Boise] is reclaiming what is rightfully everyone’s. But it’s more than a bicycling event, it’s a community event.”
Will Depot Bench be the only home for Open Streets Boise?
Schrader: “We plan on moving this event to a new location every year. So it’s highlighting different neighborhoods in Boise … and within that location, we give first priority to businesses and community groups, and a big stake to the neighborhood association to pick who they want there and what they want to do with that space. [...] So it’s really empowering those businesses and those groups to take the space and connect with the residents in their area.”
Are you concerned about state legislation or local elections interfering in the future of this event?
Pienaar: “That’s something we think about all the time. [...] I really strongly think that if we are scared of the state Legislature and we’re going to be turning down great opportunities like [the newly approved pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure on] State Street, like 8th Street improvements, then there’s something wrong with the system. We’re going to take those massive big wins, we’re going to improve on them, and if the Legislature doesn’t like it, we’ll deal with that too. But I don’t think we can live in a city where we have an ACHD commission that’s approving fantastic projects to make our city safer only for us to turn those opportunities down.”
