Fan Fest ahead of Pikes Peak Hill Climb to promote local breweries, celebrate the race
Parker Seibold
While you might not be able to catch “The Race to the Clouds” on the mountain, there is a chance to celebrate a bit closer to home.
The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Fan Fest is set for Friday night, right before race day Sunday. More than 35,000 people are expected to attend the free festival in downtown, said Melissa Eickhoff, CEO of The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.
“We can’t really get all those fans on the mountain, we’re just so limited there. So this is really a great opportunity for us to connect with the community,” Eickhoff said.
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This year’s festival will incorporate more local breweries in the beer garden, including Mash Mechanix Brewing, Phantom Canyon Brewing, Bell Brothers Brewing, Local Relic and Brass Brewing. The Hill Climb is also partnering up with the Army for the first time this year.
“It’s a great market for us to really to pull in that military community,” she said.
“We’ve been looking for unique ways to do that and got some other pieces of the puzzle, too. They’re not just part of Fan Fest, or part of race day, they’re also gonna be part of our tech.”
The streets of downtown Colorado Springs were filled with people, cars and vendors for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Fan Fest on Friday, June 23, 2023. (Parker Seibold, The Gazette)
Fan favorites are also returning this year’s festival, including FMX demos and driver meet-and-greets. The top 15 drivers will be signing autographs for fans from 6-7 p.m. on Friday.
There will also be three FMX freestyle motorcross shows throughout the night, at 5:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m.
There will, of course, also be a range of vendors and food trucks throughout the event.
The Fan Fest is celebrated the Friday evening before the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb — the second-oldest race in America. The climb, which was founded by Spencer Penrose in 1916, is known as “The Race to the Clouds.” This will be the 102nd year of the race.
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“Our race was created for the community — that was Spencer Penrose’s vision, was to bring tourism and people to our areas through sports, and our race is just one of those things that he did,” she said.
“I’ve been working really hard to try to remind the community that we’re here for them, and that we want to put on a good show, we want to feature all the great things about the Colorado Springs and Pikes Peak region.”
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