After being held for eight years, an annual three-day mountain bike festival in the “mountain biking capital of the Adirondacks” has been cancelled for 2026.
The Barkeater Trails Alliance, organizers of the Wilmington Mountain Bike Festival, announced in a social media post yesterday that they are cancelling the festival this year.
The primary reason for the cancellation, the post said, it that the international mountain biking festival Crankworx will be hosting a festival just over the border in Quebec during the same weekend the Wilmington festival is always held.
Organizers said they also considered a number of other factors, including the busy calendar of mountain biking events throughout the Northeast.
“Bike Fest holds a special place in many people’s hearts. It’s created a lot of good days, great memories, and connections that have lasted well beyond a single weekend,” stated the post. “While we will not host Bike Fest this year, we remain committed to hosting events that build community around our shared love of trails and riding. We are planning other events across our region that do just that. For the latest updates, please visit our events page.”
The Wilmington Mountain Bike Festival was a three-day celebration of bikes and community featuring on-site camping, live music, local food and beer, group rides for all abilities, shuttles, a kids mountain bike race, and more than 25 miles of beautiful Adirondack-style singletrack riding.
The event was hosted by the Barkeater Trails Alliance, an organization that builds, maintains, and advocates for mountain biking and ski touring trail in the Greater High Peaks region of the Adirondacks. Proceeds from the festival went toward supporting the trails.
Wilmington is considered by many to be the “mountain biking capital of the Adirondacks.” The area is the hub of a large regional trail network that boasts over 85 miles of diverse singletrack in four communities.
