Every community throughout Garfield County has their own quirky way of celebrating summer. In Carbondale, its Mountain Fair. Glenwood has Strawberry Days. Rifle has the Garfield County Fair and Rodeo. And for New Castle, it’s their annual Rides and Reggae festival.

Set for another year of providing the community with live music, foot and bike races, and a full weekend of fun, the Rides and Reggae festival is the perfect way to celebrate the Town of New Castle, according to Roaring Fork Mountain Bike Association board member Trent Mahaffey. 

“The event does an amazing job of showcasing how diverse and robust the trail system in New Castle is,” Roaring Fork Mountain Bike Association board member Trent Mahaffey said. “It’s really fun to see so many members of the community unite in one place. Whether it’s mountain bikers, trail runners, or hikers, everyone enjoys participating, or just coming out to VIX park to watch the races and enjoy the event.”

The eighth year of the annual festival is set to take place Aug. 1-2 in New Castle as the unique community bonds over their shared interest in live music while simultaneously supporting New Castle’s five-star trail system. 

“It’s secretly a fundraiser,” Mahaffey laughed. “The profits go directly into supporting the maintenance and construction of our trail system. Previous years Rides and Reggae festivals directly contributed to the completion of the Burning Mountain Trail System.”

But it’s not just about the mountain biking community. The weekend event’s mission is tailored to make everyone benefit from a weekend full of fun.

The two day event is stepping out of the norm to further strengthen their relationship with the Town of New Castle and the mom and pop shops that encompass New Castle’s small town culture. 

Everyone is invited to Down Valley Brewing in downtown New Castle for a free night of music on Friday. The Still House String Band will kick off the performance at 6:15 p.m., and High Country Hustle will bring it home, starting at 8 p.m..

“Bringing (the festival) downtown was our way to kind of help support local businesses down there,” Mahaffey said. “Hopefully people can go check out some of the other restaurants and bars that are open and help support those businesses. It’s a really nice downtown, and we want to continue to help support the people and businesses down there.”

It isn’t just a weekend to celebrate the summer sunshine though. Intense races, nicknamed the “dirty dozen” are held throughout the two days with trails purposefully selected to weed out the faint of heart.

The Dirty Dozen trail running race will be held on Friday night, a 10k with over 1,100 feet of climbing. Then, on Saturday morning, the Dirty Dozen mountain bike race will begin at 7 a.m., as participants will race 20 miles out and back with a total of 3,800 feet of climbing throughout the course. Then at 9:30 a.m., the Dirty Half Dozen mountain bike race will begin, totaling seven miles and 1,000 feet of climbing. 

“New Castle has a lot of terrain, and a really expansive trail system to be able to put on such difficult, but different races,” Mahaffey said. “They are really grueling race courses, the first place finishers always have elite level racing abilities, and the times are always impressive. It’s cool to see the races unite all the different trail users in one weekend.”

All of the races will begin and end at VIX Park in New Castle, a gorgeous entrance to the Burning Mountain Trail System. With views of the surrounding Colorado River Valley, and consistent jaw dropping sunsets, VIX Park is the perfect place to host the last day of the festival. 

Mahaffey said that although it was a no-brainer to bring at least one day downtown to benefit the entire community, completely tearing the festival away from VIX Park would have been a mistake. 

“VIX is a really special park and a special place to a lot of people,” he said. “It’s a beautiful way to cap off the weekend. The trails are right behind us, we have stellar views of the Hogback and the sunset, and once it starts cooling down and the music gets going, it turns into a really special scene.”

Local and national bands like The Know Bodys, Wood Belly, Mighty Mistic, and The Motet will perform at VIX Park from 3-10 p.m., on Saturday, Aug. 2, to wrap up another weekend of celebrating everything that makes New Castle unique. 

Tickets are required for the weekend, for more information about buying tickets, registering for races, or the prize pools visit RFMBA.org.