A friend and I went to Tour de Fat Saturday, July 12, despite a torrential downpour that morning, which flooded area streets and completely saturated the ground in Palmer Square where the event was held. New Belgium Brewing, based in Fort Collins, Colorado, hosts the touring festival each summer, bringing along a circus of bicycle-centric activities, contests, and — of course — beer. Chicago was the third stop of the event’s 10-city tour this summer.
The Tour de Fat annual bicycle parade was rained out, but artists took the stage in the afternoon as scheduled. The effect resembled to me what Woodstock must have been like, as those in the park eventually succumbed to the mud and embraced the fact that they’d probably never be able to wear those shoes again. Mucca Pazza absolutely stole the show with an amazing, high-energy set at 2:45, complete with mud wrestling and dancing.
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- All of Palmer Square was coated.
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- Me with Stef, enjoying some New Belgium beer.
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- A costumed dog with a ponytail.
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- A young girl powered a New Belgium-created cycling machine by hand.
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- The mud was unavoidable.
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- A man braved one of the attractions at the event: A tight rope.
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- Attendees dancing in the mud to Mucca Pazza.
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- New Belgium’s beer list.
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- Mucca Pazza and the mud pit.
Meryl Williams
Meryl is a journalist and southeastern Ohio transplant who loves binge-watching shows on Netflix, listening to upbeat indie music with starkly depressing lyrics, and shamelessly ordering the Kids Pack-size popcorn at the movies. She has been known to over-share on her blog, and she is okay with that.
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