Tour de Bowness is Alberta’s largest amateur cycling event, pairing a criterium race on closed Bowness streets with a street festival of food, vendors and live music.
About
The criterium runs on a 1-kilometre, 7-turn closed circuit through Bowness, with riders reaching speeds up to 70 km/h. Race categories run from 9 AM to 5 PM while the street festival runs 10 AM to 5 PM with food trucks, local restaurants, artisan vendors, street performers and live music on the Tim Horton Stage. It is hosted by the Mainstreet Bowness BIA and Bow Cycle in partnership with the Bowness Community Association. A kids’ race was added in 2023 and para cyclists in 2024, and the 2026 race weekend also hosted the Canadian Masters Road Championships.
The race was started by Bow Cycle co-owner Darrell Elliott in the early 2000s as an amateur road race. The BIA street festival partnership began in 2011 during Bowness’s centennial celebrations, turning race day into a community street party.