World’s Top DJs, Labels And Music Industry Execs Join Virtual Cycle Relay As Part Of 8 Hour Virtual Fundraiser

All proceeds will support students and artists in underserved communities in South Africa through non-profit partner ‘Bridges for Music’. The event will be streamed live on Beatport.

On Wednesday, 21st October, the Annual Bridges for Music charity cycle event, which is a tradition for Bridges for Music, Beatport and Pioneer DJ, and one of the focal points of the annual Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) conference, is moving online. Some of the world’s top DJs, music executives, promoters, and other industry figures will cycle on Tacx Neo Smart Trainers with the latest Garmin computers, Garmin Edge 1030 Plus. They will be installed in some of the world’s most iconic music venues around the world, including Watergate (Berlin), Ministry of Sound (London), the ADE Headquarters at the Felix Meritis (Amsterdam), the Bridges Academy in Langa (Cape Town) and Los Angeles to participate in an 8-hour virtual relay race.  

Some of the international teams and riders already confirmed include Armada, Defected, Awakenings, Richie Hawtin, Pan-Pot, Gigee, Rebekah, Floyd Lavine, Juliet Fox, Goldfish and Pete Tong, as well as some greatly influential South African names like DJ Athie (Umgido) and DJ Fosta. With DJ guest sets from some of South Africa’s hottest names Themba and Lady Z as well as other international guests. 

The venues and riders will be connected through the virtual cycling app Zwift to complete an 8 hour cycling relay (2PM to 10PM CEST  / 9AM PDT onwards) via a unique stream that will be powered by Beatport. The event will also raise funds for the Bridges for Music program to help provide quality education to youth in underserved communities in South Africa. Previous years’ events funded the construction and operations of the Bridges Academy, an incredible creative school in the township of Langa. 

The fundraiser is sponsored by Pioneer DJ. Looking forward to the event, the brand’s General Manager in EMEA, Mark Grotefeld, said, “We are really honored to have been a founding sponsor of Bridges For Music, and we completely endorse their noble mission of uncovering, developing and nurturing the latent and untapped talents of the under-privileged.”

The annual charity ride is always a favorite of attendees of ADE, which draws thousands from the global dance music community for its annual conference.  The entire 8-hour event will be broadcast on Beatport’s Twitch channel as well as the store’s homepage and will include real time tracking of riders and special performances from some of the most renowned DJs in the world.

“Our community is always looking for ways to give back and even though we can’t gather physically this year in Amsterdam, we felt it was important to get creative and raise funds for this very important cause,” said Ed Hill, VP, Media Group, Beatport.  “This virtual 8-hour bike ride reflects the enthusiasm that our community of DJs, label execs, promoters and others maintain, even as we face such a challenging time.”

Dance music fans who want to ride with their DJs from their own home can follow along via their Zwift account and a smart turbo trainer or via www.cycleformusic.com or through the Zwift App. Just choose the artist you want to ride with on the Zwift App and share the fundraising page link to help raise funds for South African students   

Entries for new riders & teams at the official locations are open until October 12th.  Zwift users can join the event virtually up until the starting time. 

This event is made possible by generous support from Pioneer DJ and the contributions from Beatport, Garmin and Taxc. 100% of proceeds will go to the cause. For more information, please visit: http://www.bridgesformusic.orgInstagramFacebookTwitter

The stream can be viewed on: https://www.twitch.tv/beatportofficial and beatport.com