Riders beware! The Labour Day long weekend in early March will likely clog some roads and paths in and around the city as crowds throng to Moomba festivities.
This year’s post-COVID Moomba community festival is promised to be as big and as brash as the good old days.
There will be fireworks, waterskiing on the Yarra, the Birdman Rally and the Moomba Parade.
And—hopes the City of Melbourne—huge crowds.
The main festivities occur across Saturday to Monday, 11-14 March, with the water-skiing during the lead-up on 3-8 March.
There will be fireworks on Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights at 9.30pm-9.35pm in the Alexandra Gardens and Birrarung Marr. Riders are cautioned that Princes Bridge bike lanes may have to be closed during these times if crowd spillover onto the road.
The parade will be on Birdwood Avenue in the Domain on the Monday, with road closures in place through the area and outside the arenas centre.
As crowds swell it may be difficult for riders to use sections of the Main Yarra Trail. There will also be significant fencing through the festival environs, creating pinch points.
If you are thinking about visiting the CBD on bike during festival times, it would be worth planning routes that take you around the crowd congested areas at the south end of Swanston Street/Princes Bridge/Arts Centre precinct and away from the Yarra Trails east of Princes Bridge.