First-ever ‘Sports Backers Fitness Festival’ announced for September 18 in Chimborazo Park

The first-ever Sports Backers Fitness Festival takes place on Saturday, September 18, Sports Backers announced today. The festival promotes the fitness and outdoor activity opportunities available in Richmond and runs from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Chimborazo Park at 3215 E. Broad Street. Participation in the Fitness Festival is free, but attendees are asked to register beforehand.

The free festival features classes and demos led by members of Sports Backers’ Fitness Warriors program. The community health initiative trains area residents who have talent, passion, and potential to be professional fitness instructors for Richmond’s communities with the highest rates of chronic disease. Fitness Warriors currently lead free classes six days a week throughout the Richmond region, both in person and virtually, and the classes are geared towards all levels of fitness.

Fitness Warriors will lead sessions during the Fitness Festival in a celebration of active living and to help encourage participants to make physical activity a daily habit. A variety of activities and modalities are available throughout the day, including yoga, Pilates, Zumba, resistance bands, and high intensity interval training. The festival also features local health and fitness vendors to help guide participants on their active living journey. A vendor application is available at www.tfaforms.com/4924659.

”The Sports Backers Fitness Festival brings together many of our region’s most enthusiastic and passionate fitness leaders for a day of high-energy fun,” said Tiffany Copeland, Director of Fitness Warriors for Sports Backers. “At Sports Backers, our mission is to inspire people from all corners of our community to live actively. The festival supports this mission by encouraging attendees to sample a wide variety of activities and learn innovative ways to add active living into their lifestyle on a daily basis.”

Sports Backers is partnering with several corporate and nonprofit sponsors, including the RVA Community Development Corp., to deliver the inaugural Fitness Festival. These partnerships build connections with a wide range of community members and share the message of the importance of active living.

“We’re excited to help sponsor this event because Fitness Warriors reflects our values of economic empowerment and community-based leadership,” said Elaine Summerfield, Board President of the RVA Community Development Corp., a nonprofit that is working to support and sustain community assets and economic opportunity, with a particular focus on Richmond’s East End.

Additional supporters of the Sports Backers Fitness Festival include Markel, Mutual Assurance of Virginia, and the Market @ 25^th. More details on the Sports Backers Fitness Festival are available at www.sportsbackers.org/events/fitness-festival.