Becoming a Host Town
Dear Iowa Community Leader:
Thank you for your community’s interest regarding the possibilities of
becoming an overnight town or pass-through town for RAGBRAI LIV. The
“Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa” – RAGBRAI is the
oldest, largest, and longest multi-day bicycle touring event in the world.
RAGBRAI is scheduled for the last full week of July annually.
Below is valuable information about what your community needs to host RAGBRAI. You’ll find information on how the route and towns are selected, as well as associated timelines and community impact.
There are more than 200 Iowa communities that express the desire to host RAGBRAI, and we try to include as many as possible each year. We are proud that your community would consider a RAGBRAI visit!
Sincerely, Matt Phippen – RAGBRAI RIDE DIRECTOR
To formally express your community’s interest, please fill out the Host Form below. (Forms should be completed by October 31, 2026)
Community Qualifications
The most important community resource needed to host RAGBRAI is the people in your community. Community leaders and volunteers are the key to hosting a successful RAGBRAI visit. An enormous amount of time and energy would be required to properly plan for and welcome 15,000 cyclists plus thousands of guests to your community.
Community Engagement
- It takes a village. Make sure all city, county, and local stakeholders are committed to hosting RAGBRAI.
Approximately 70-80 Acres of Campground
- The campground space needs to be located in your community. Acreage can be broken into different sites. Consider sites that have proximity to shelter, showers, and restrooms. Sites that work best include: schools, parks, and fairgrounds.
Large Crowds
- Must be able to host cyclists, drivers, and the community. Your festival venue should be large enough to hold 40-50 vendors, a beverage garden, and a stage.
Route
- Towns must be spaced an acceptable distance from the previous town and have paved roads
with a low traffic count.
Vehicles
- Towns must have the capacity to park an additional 2500 vehicles (RVs, trailers, box trucks, and standard vehicles).
Community Funds
Each year, RAGBRAI is committed to investing back over $1 million dollars into the communities and agencies that host annually. We have taken the burden off of these smaller communities by giving larger start-up funds to help them succeed.
$50,000
$10,000
$5,000
“When a community thinks of economic impact, traditional impacts of tourism
are hotel room nights, sales tax receipts, and entertainment spending.
RAGBRAI’s impact on our destination goes beyond all of these factors
and is much more than the one week in July.”
“This event exposed our Quad Cities’ destination to 50 states and 18 countries.
The value of the word-of-mouth and media exposure is much higher than the
amount of money and labor put into hosting it.”
“After a poor experience with RAGBRAI in 2021,
we were a little reluctant to go with it again. However,
this year was a completely different experience.
RAGBRAI staff met with us on a regular basis from early
spring, with a follow-up after the ride. The seed money
definitely helped with our preparations. We are a
community of 587 population. We didn’t go overboard
in our planning, but we had a great morning with the
riders. We made a profit this year. The 3 churches and
the Friends of the Library all received money from
the profits.”
“RAGBRAI coming through Marengo was a great way to showcase our town, promote commerce, and have a fun time doing it.
The riders were respectful, appreciative, and really enjoyed their
time with us.”