Knoxville City Manager Harold Stewart says plans and preparations are already underway for RAGBRAI festivities. He says landing the event was an uphill climb – around 250 communities initially applied to host an overnight stay before it was whittled down to eight. Assistant City Manager Dylan Feik completed the application to turn into the committee.

Stewart says this is an important opportunity for Knoxville to showcase itself and the quality of people within the community. He adds that the goal is – after what’s hopefully a successful outing this year – they can bring the event back in five years’ time to showcase the change and progress made through the downtown Streetscape project.