About 450 cyclists met in the center of Sofia for a bicycle parade on May 15 to celebrate the International Day for Actions Against Climate Change. This is the 10th time the event has been celebrated on two wheels in Sofia.

The cyclists, including children and elderly people, rode for about two hours on Sofia’s central streets, including Moskovska, Georgi Sava Rakovski and Graf Ignatiev, and the boulevards Evlogi Georgiev, Tsar Osvoboditel, Vassil Levski, Patriarh Evtimii and Vitosha, until they reached the gardens in front of Ivan Vazov National Theatre. Sofia municipality closed all those parts of Sofia for the event.

By holding the event, the cyclists demonstrated their wish for the city to construct bicycle lanes, so that they can freely move from one place to another in a healthy and environmentally friendly way. They shouted phrases like “Bicycle lanes!” and “We will do this every day until we win!” The event was organised by the non-governmental organisations Bikevolution (bikevolution-bg.org), Bikearea (bikearea.org), Cooperation for Voluntary Service Bulgaria (CVS, cvs-bg.org) and the association Za Zemiata (For the Earth).

As previously reported by The Sofia Echo, by approving the budget for 2008 on March 6, Sofia municipality allocated 5.3 million leva for bicycle lanes and repairs of pavements in the city. Sofia chief architect Patar Dikov said according to him bicycle lanes should be constructed in Sofia’s districts Lyulin and Mladost to connect with the metro. Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov said two bicycle lanes will be set in Sofia in 2008: one along Tsar Boris III Boulevard and one along Evlogi Georgiev Boulevard.