Hundreds of bicycles left behind by attendants of Ghent's music and arts festival have been collected and are being stored in a depot in the city where they will remain for three months.
With the city returning to normal after the nine-day open-air festivities, workers of the city's Fietsambassade (Bicycle Embassy) took to removing the two-wheelers attached to poles or parked in one of several temporary parking facilities.
"Bicycles are left everywhere," Marjolein Dedeurwaerdere of the Fietsambassade said, adding that bicycle stands had been put up in thirty different locations across the city for the festival.
The bicycles were rounded up and brought into a Fietsambassade depot, where owners are encouraged to recover them within three months, according to VRT.
"Whoever comes to pick up their bicycle is advised to bring the key for the lock, that way you can prove that you are the owner," Dedeurwaerdere said.
"It is also useful to bring a picture of the bicycle, so we can find it faster," she added.
Ghent's Fietsambassade offers maintenance and parking services to bike users, promotes cycling in the city and routinely recovers so-called "orphaned" bicycles from the streets and attempts to locate their owners.
Gabriela Galindo
The Brussels Times
