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Born in an alley, Bikes, Blues & BBQ took just 10 years to become one of the four largest motorcycle rallies in the country.
"I knew it would get this big, but I didn't think it'd be in my lifetime," said Richard Watson, co-founder of the family-friendly event that off icially kicks off Wednesday.
The Harley-Davidson Softtail custom that Watsonrode to the country's other rallies is up for sale, and the former police chief may miss the event for the first time this year. The festival he was instrumental in creating stands to grow yet again and is spawning related events throughout the region, from Northwest Arkansas Mall in Fayetteville to Watts, Okla.
Watson drew inspiration from other motorcycle rallies and dreamed of creating a sales tax draw. He said he believed Fayetteville had thepotential to become host to a large festival because it offered what many other places don't - good places to ride.
Watson talked about the festival for years with Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce then-President Steve Ward before he pitched the idea to the chamber board of directors. The board approved, Watson said, and by word-of-mouth, organizers were able to get a few hundred people to thefirst rally in 2000.
"A lot of people say it started as a poker run or as bike night at Jose's, but it didn't," Watson said. "It started in the alley between the police station and the chamber."
ESTIMATING RIDERS
There's no question the festival has grown over the years, but it's hard to estimate attendance each year, said Nelson Driver, eventcoordinator.
Organizers said it reached about 75,000 in 2003, then grew incrementally to about 300,000 in 2007. Estimates from vendors, motorcycle company representatives and deputies flying over the event put the crowd last year around 400,000, Driver said.
Web site traffic has been offered as a measure of interest in the festival but can't be used to estimate crowd size, said Bob Corscadden, managing partner of the festival's marketing agency, jimbob inc. of Fayetteville.
The event's status as fourth-largest in the country is based on numbers reported in Motorcycle Events Magazine, Corscadden said.
Corscadden, whose company was brought on last year, said the Web site has had more than 25,000 visitors in the past two weeks and more than 40,000 in the past 30 days.
Web traffic starts building dramatically about August, he said, but peaks the week after the rally.
Driver said Fayetteville's central location helps draw people who have to travel farther to get to other major rallies, such as those in Sturgis, S.D., or Daytona Beach, Fla.
KEEPING IT SIMPLE
More activities will be available this year, but the part of Bikes, Blues & BBQ organized by the nonprofit festival organization won't grow beyond the central venues at Dickson Street and Baum Stadium on the University of Arkansas campus, Driver said.
As is typical for a large motorcycle rally, smaller rallies and events crop up during the same time frame, he said. Organizers think the related events are good for the festival and encourage them.
The organization has endorsed the rally at Northwest Arkansas Mall being put on by George's Majestic Lounge owner Brian Crowne.
Crowne's Bikes, Blues and Hot Rods Too will provide more prominent music acts than Bikes, Blues & BBQ , Driver said. He said his organization learned its lesson from a concert featuring The Neville Brothers and Blues Traveler at the mall in 2003.
Driver said the organization lost more than $100,000 on that failed show, and "We won't ever do that again."
"We lost our butt. We absolutely lost our butt," Watson said. The loss meant the group had to suspend charity donations and take out a loan. Earlier this month, rally organizers reported being debt free.
There are a few reasons organizers of Bikes, Blues and Hot Rods Too at the Arkansas Music Pavilion are confident they won't have a repeat of 2003, said Dan Allen, owner of GMS Group, one of the event's promoters. The pavilion is situated in a parking lot on the western side of the mall.
The event is a stand-alone rally that will feature a wide variety of activities, not just music. It will complement Bikes, Blues & BBQ and also provide a unique opportunity for classic car enthusiasts, Allen said.
The event will be free until 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday, after which tickets to see headliners such as Marshall Tucker Band are only $10, he said.
The car contest Saturday is free, and organizers guarantee donations to the Ozark Blues Society and Youth Bridge.
PLAYING GAMES
Rally-related events this year include two days of Bike Games at River Valley Raceway in Watts, Okla., and a scooter scavenger hunt in Fayetteville.
Bob Hartley, the raceway owner, said one of his motorcross riders approached him with the idea of having games of skill at the track. With the race season finishing Saturday there was no reason not to, Hartley said.
Hartley said there will be games for single motorcycle riders and riders with a passenger throughout the day Friday and Saturday.
The poker runs are organized by Local 2866 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, which donates proceeds to a variety of charities, said President Jeremy Ashley.
Ashley said that the poker run has long been the union's largest single fundraising event.
The runs have helped firefighters contribute more than $6,000 to Camp Sunshine, which serves children suffering from burns, Ashley said.
Ashley said the smaller scooters can't make the 100-plus mile poker run so scooter riders will collect answers to trivia questions on a 12-stop run, he said.
Driver said that as long as he's in charge of the festival, there's one other thing that won't change.
"We're not going past four days," he said.
Watson said he expects the rally will outlast him, and while Willie Nelson was probably right when he said "all honkytonks will eventually close," the Sturgis and Daytona motorcycle rallies have been going for more than 60 years.
"If we don't have the world come to an end, I think this thing'll keep expanding," Watson said.
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NO MORE THAN FOUR
One group is talking about trying to connect the rally's Dickson Street festivities to the Fayetteville Square, something Bikes, Blues & BBQ organizers support, Driver said. While he will do everything he can to help foster additional events during the rally, the Bikes, Blues & BBQ footprint isn't growing beyond established venues at Dickson Street and Baum Stadium.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 19, 21 on 09/20/2009