Imagine you’re going to your favorite summer camp as a kid. There’s games, dance parties, and prizes to win; it’s all good fun. Now imagine that it’s bicycle themed, for adults only, at City Hall Plaza, and it’s a beer and wine festival with a warped sense of humor. That’s really the best way to describe what took place at City Hall Plaza this past weekend.
Tour De Fat was a fever dream about 200 festival goers had on August 11th at City Hall Plaza. Presented by New Belgium Brewing, the touring event aims to raise money for local bike non-profits in each city they visit. The theme for this year’s event was “Camp Tour De Fat,” featuring a campground aesthetic.
Headlining the day was The Voidz, a band fronted by Julian Casablancas of The Strokes. They ripped through ten songs at the end of all the campground activities. Leaning heavily on songs from their new album, Virtue, The Voidz provided a perfect end to a bizarre day. Though there weren’t as many people watching the band as there would have been on a sunny day, the crowd was screaming and cheering throughout the set, happy to hear some live music from Casablancas even through the downpour. Check out clips of the songs “Wink” and “Pyramid of Bones” from The Voidz’ set in the video above.
Before the band went on, the hosts provided a talent show for the crowd. The highlight of the campground activities was during the yoyo-squid-battle at the end of the talent show. A giant squid attacked camp Tour De Fat and the only way to stop it was to hit it in the eye with a yoyo. Really, you just had to be there to understand it. Once the squid was defeated, it claimed it never wanted to harm anyone, it just wanted to have a dance party, of course. So as “Come Sail Away” by Styx played, confetti was blasted and a dance party began!
After the talent show, the hosts gathered everyone around a fake campfire for Story Time. While our camp counselor host was walking through the woods one night, he found something. Watch the video above to see what happens!
Though the rain did scare some people away, the organizers still found ways to make the day exciting and fun. It felt like all the chaperones at your summer camp as a kid knew exactly what to do when every campers’ favorite day got rained out. The hosts, doubling as actors, kept the fun going even when the rain was almost unbearable.
To be truthful, the rain almost made the event even more fun. With less people around, the hosts were able to be more personable instead of reaching out to large crowds. Some 200 lucky people got to own City Hall Plaza for a couple of hours this weekend.
For more information on Tour De Fat, head to their website.
