The City of Joensuu will host the international Winter Cycling Congress 2020. This year, the Winter Cycling Congress was held in Calgary, Canada on February 6–8, 2019 and the event gathered three hundred developers of year-round cycling together. The first Winter Cycling Congress was hosted in Oulu in 2013. After Oulu, the event has been held in Winnipeg (2014), Leeuwarden (2015), Minneapolis (2016), Montreal (2017) and Moscow (2018).

- We are extremely flattered to have Joensuu selected as a host city. In our conference, we wish to highlight that here in the North, year-round cycling is an everyday thing for people of all ages. We are also pleased to show what Joensuu has done to promote cycling, states Markku Pyykkönen, the event manager of the City of Joensuu.

The Winter Cycling Congress gathers advocates and specialists of cycling together for an international event. The main theme of the congress is to develop winter cycling conditions, reinforce the role of winter cycling as an everyday form of physical activity and to share the best practices around the world. The programme has often comprised lectures, workshops and cycling trips around the city, among other things. The event is organised by the international Winter Cycling Federation.

- Joensuu has worked patiently and systematically to promote year-round cycling. In recent years, the congress has visited cities where year-round cycling is not very common. Therefore it is important at times to get a chance to offer our community a congress location where year-round cycling is a common everyday thing, says Timo Perälä, the President of the international Winter Cycling Federation.

The date of the Winter Cycling Congress will be confirmed in the next few months, and the promoting team for walking and cycling of the City of Joensuu will be in charge of directing the event.

The Joensuu Winter Cycling Congress website: http://www.wintercyclingcongress2020.fi

The Winter Cycling Federation website: http://www.wintercycling.org/home