Forest City RAGBRAI donates $50,000 back to local initiatives
Forest City, Iowa — August 19, 2025 — Forest City RAGBRAI is thrilled to announce a donation of $50,000 back to the community, made possible through the generous support of RAGBRAI riders, local businesses, organizations, and over 200 volunteers.
This year’s event has resulted in $25,000 for the Forest City Enhancement Committee in support of the Yellow Bridge Project, and $25,000 for the Forest Theatre.
These funds will help advance meaningful local efforts that enrich the community of Forest City.
“Our team’s planning and coordination over the past seven months was instrumental in the financial success of the event. We are thrilled with the results and proud of our community,” said Julianna Burkholder, Forest City RAGBRAI Chair.
View as a PDF here.
The following notice will be included in the July city mailing for all local residents. Many people will be impacted by RAGBRAI so we are including official maps of the route. Here is the official notice with map below:
Impact Notice: Forest City RAGBRAI, Tuesday, July 22, 2025
The map of the RAGBRAI Route through town has been included. Clark Street (from L to G) will be closed Monday, July 21 at 5PM until Tuesday, July 22 at 11:30PM. All residents impacted by the cycling route will need to consider parking off the route on Tuesday, July 22, so that they can get in and out of their residence.
Downtown residents will need to park in the Wilson Dental lot (permits will be distributed) on the evenings of Monday, July 21, and Tuesday, July 22, for overnight parking. Cyclists will be leaving town on the morning of Wednesday, July 23. Many residents will be impacted by their departure. We appreciate your cooperation. Questions? Please call FC Chamber of Commerce @ 641.585.2092.
As we close the gap and RAGBRAI FC looms ever nearer, we have a few new forms on the website to help our users.
Anyone who is planning to RV Camp in FC will have access to the glorious Winnebago Rally Grounds — a vast expanse of greenspace with plenty of RV hookups. If you would like to camp in this space, with power or without, an application & signed waiver is required. You can find that application form here.
Locals: if you are planning an event at your place of business or setting up some kind of free-will donation fundraiser, please register your event here. We are creating an Official List that will be available to all cyclists at info booths around town. We would love to include you in the list but you must complete the event registration form. (Also, if you are trying to sell something, you are technically a "vendor"... which means you'll need to complete the VENDOR application form instead!).
Please reach out with questions. We still need plenty of hosts and volunteers for this event. It is going to be a very exciting day in Forest City and we would love for you to be a part of it!
The RAGBRAI Committee is hard at work behind the scenes. Plans are taking shape, maps are being drawn, entertainment has been announced (check the Facebook page!), and we continue to look for sponsors/hosts/vendors. We hope to make this the best event possible for all those folks spending the 22nd of July in fine Forest City.
If you are still looking for ways to help out, consider hosting or volunteering. Both are great opportunities to help showcase our community and welcome all our RAGBRAI guests!
Additionally, as we seek to feed all the extra people in town, we are trying to add variety to our vendor list. If you know someone who knows someone who owns a food truck, feel free to reach out to us or contact that friend directly & send them to our vendor application form here. Have more questions about vendors? Here is the FAQ page for more info.
Juli and Troy from our Advisory Committee spoke with Mark Skaar on KIOW. They shared lots of good information and helped promote our Town Hall, which is taking place on April 8, 2025 at 5P. It will be held at the Boman Mezzanine and we look forward to sharing lots of information with everyone who attends.
Click here to listen to a recording of the morning conversation!
Mark your calendar for Tuesday, April 8, 2025 and join us at the Town Hall. Boman Mezzanine at 5P.
The day you've all been waiting for...
Merch is finally available!
Regale yourselves in t-shirts, long sleeve tees, crewnecks and hoodies! Click the link above or click on any of the shirts below to be redirected to Threads. You can place your order anytime and it will ship according to the three deadlines we have in place.
Deadline 1: May 1, 2025
Deadline 2: June 25, 2025
Deadline 3: August 1, 2025
Please allow 2-3 weeks from each deadline to receive your item.
See the poster below. The goal of the Town Hall is to continue communicating the planning and progress that is taking place behind the scenes. Members of our Advisory Committee will be present to field questions. We will also present on great ways to be involved and offer folks the opportunity to sign up to volunteer.
Lots of housing applications are coming in via our website and we wanted to update riders on what to expect with that process. Our team of volunteers is going to do the best we can to place as many registered riders with local hosts as possible.
We will begin the placement process following our Town Hall on April 8, 2025. We hope to recruit more folks to host riders and teams at that event.
Applications for housing will close on June 1, 2025
Any applicants that remain unplaced will be contacted on June 15, 2025, with options for camping in Forest City (there are many great spots!). If you have questions or concerns now, please reach out to us via email at info@forestcityragbrai.com.
