FAYETTEVILLE — The crowds have always been an annoyance during downtown’s Bikes, Blues & BBQ celebration, which brings an estimated 100,000 people downtown annually.
But, for better or worse, crowds weren’t much of a problem Saturday at Bikes Blues & BBQ’s sister event, Bikes, Babes & Bling.
Bikes, Babes & Bling, billed as “the South’s first motorcycle rally that focuses on women,” moved to the Washington County Fairgrounds in Fayetteville for its second go-round Friday and Saturday.
While last year’s inaugural event brought an estimated 5,000 people to Dickson Street, the event was moved to the fairgrounds this year because the Art of Wine festival is taking place downtown this weekend.
Organizers blamed low attendance last year on rain and dates just before the Fourth of July holiday.
However, only a few dozen people wandered around the fairgrounds at lunchtime Saturday to see about a dozen vendors selling food or leather biker gear and T-shirts.
Tulsa, Okla.-based Crumpton Aviation offered brief helicopter rides over Fayetteville for $40 at Saturday’s gathering.
Despite operating two choppers at Bikes, Blues & BBQ and rarely having a spare moment to rest, pilot Jody Milani said there was little demand for the 100 mph rides this weekend. He and two other pilots, Charlie Crumpton and Matthew Merrill had only sold about 10 flights in two days by Saturday afternoon.
“The price of fuel is over $6 per gallon,” Milani said. We’re still trying to keep prices low.”
The smells of grilled meat and leather and the sounds of blues and hard rock filled the rural fairgrounds Saturday, but several attendees said that Bikes, Babes & Bling didn’t quite live up to the reputation of the much better-known Bikes, Blues & BBQ.
“This is my first time and it’s definitely smaller than Bikes, Blues & BBQ,” said Rhonda Surber of Fayetteville, who attended Bikes Babes & Bling with husband Mark.
Despite the rally’s focus on female riders, Surber said she saw few things that appealed more to women except for a stage and the stands around it.
Women at the event did not seem to outnumber men by any sizable number Saturday.
Tiffany Holguin, a regular at Bikes, Blues & BBQ, rode to Bikes, Babes & Bling from Oklahoma with more than a dozen other women, as well as her boyfriend, Daniel Williams and her son.
“This is awful small compared to Bikes, Blues & BBQ,” she said as she and her family enjoyed lunch from the Razor’s Edge restaurant booth.
Williams remained more optimistic.
“It seems OK,” he said. “It’s still in its infancy and it will do better with more promotion.”