New Chichester festival 'a great success'

ChiCycle, a community group which promotes safe, confident, convenient, walking and cycling around Chichester held pop-up free live music event at the Whyke Amphitheatre on Sunday June 12.

ChiCycle secretary, Mark Record, said the day was ‘blessed with great weather’ and plenty of families arrived to enjoy the music and soak up the sun.

City, district and county councillor Sarah Sharp, attended on the day and said: “It was really wonderful to see the space being used for such an uplifting musical experience that was free for all to attend. The amphitheatre is an under-used asset in the city and it would be good to see the space used more often by theatres or other musical events in the future.

"The unique selling point of this event is that it was as sustainable as possible with the equipment being mounted on a cargo trike and every effort being made to make the event as zero carbon as possible.

“The event was well attended and the atmosphere was very relaxed. A great time was had by all. Lastly I would like to thank Mark and his team for their tireless work to set up this event. It just showed what can be done by bike alone and raises awareness that you can have an exceptionally good time while staying local.

“It was a community building event too — a chance for people to re-connect with friends and neighbours to support some great artists in a unique and very special space in Whyke.”

ChiCycle's Pop-Up summer music events are intended to highlight there's a key solution to the city's transportation issues the group has said are being ‘widely ignored’.

A spokesperson for the group said: “Improvement to infrastructure supporting local walking and cycling is vital if we want to deal with increasing traffic congestion and pollution. By making walking and cycling safe, appealing and convenient, it will become a natural choice for many frequently made local journeys.

"Getting people out of their cars will help health and fitness, help tackle climate crisis and also save money with increasing petrol prices.”