Cluj Bike Fest - the story

the beginning

It was almost the end of Summer 2024. The sunlight was timidly entering the room at HEITS.digital HQ in Cluj-Napoca, and the room was beaming with excitement during the first meeting between RaceHub and HEITS.digital. Old friends who bike around the trails of Cluj’s forests, now in a very different set-up, cooking up an idea that would turn out to be much bigger than they ever imagined.

At first, we were discussing organizing a mountain bike race, but as the conversation grew and the ideas were flowing, it was slowly, but surely becoming a festival - a celebration of life on two wheels.

from that moment, Cluj Bike Fest began to take shape.

For us at HEITS Digital, this project was never “just another event.” It became a way to let out our creativity, practice teamwork, and place our energy into something that lives outside the digital world we usually work in. No day was dull, and no task too small, as we went all in, from design, marketing, and communication support, to logistics, help in trail-building, and volunteering on the spot. Many people in our team joined and poured time and heart into making this festival possible.

Once we knew what we wanted to create, the next step was finding the perfect place to bring it to life. We felt it was very important to start with the right setting, because that was later going to be the “heart” of our festival, the base camp, the ‘home’. That’s why, in the early days, we spent countless hours circling spots on the map of Cluj-Napoca, during what seemed to be never-ending meetings, trying to imagine the best entry points to the trails we loved, testing different routes and sketching scenarios. That search eventually led us to Wonderland Cluj Resort. When we reached out, they immediately embraced the idea, because they too believed in supporting the community and building something meaningful. With the location secured, we still had big questions to answer: what did we want to communicate through this event, how should it look, and what identity would make it truly ours? The answer came naturally, of course, after testing out, rolling out different names and sleeping on many ideas. Cluj Bike Fest would be more than a race, it would be a family festival, a space where no one is left out, where kids, parents, professionals, and beginners all ride together, united by the same passion. The reason why it carries ‘fest’ in its name: because it’s a celebration of biking, nature, and community, culminating in a day of pure joy.

With the location and date set, and with the name and identity in place, we knew exactly what we had to do next. We won’t bore you with all the details of the paperwork and legal authorizations it takes to make something like this happen, but we do want to say this: none of it would have been possible without the support of Cluj-Napoca’s City Council (Primăria Municipiului Cluj-Napoca). Their involvement and encouragement whenever members of the community set out to create something for others is truly inspiring. We’re grateful that this project has given us a festival and so, so many valuable people that share our community values.

race day - festival day

Fast forward to the event day, it was overwhelming in the best possible way. To see something you’ve been working on for over a year finally come to life, filled with people, energy, and excitement, was unforgettable.

On Saturday, the 13th of September, we left our soon-to-be heart of the festival in the evening with most things in place. The race office, banners, and our start/finish area set. The next morning, as the sun was rising around 7 a.m. the exact same spot was buzzing. More than 60 volunteers knew exactly what they had to do and everyone was moving with purpose. Memo, our MC and the DJ, Florin were setting up speakers and doing mic checks. Partners were setting up their tents, sponsors were arranging their spaces, and the whole scene was bathed in that first light of sunrise. Poetic, because in that glow, all the effort of months of planning turned into a paradox. You could see it with your eyes and it felt real, but the emotion of it was out of this world, completely surreal.