FAYETTEVILLE -- What started as a small gathering of motorcycle enthusiasts two decades ago has become an annual regional event. Organizers say they've tried to broaden the appeal over the years with programming suitable for families.
Bikes, Blues & BBQ will celebrate its 20th festival starting Wednesday. New events, such as the World Class Wrestling Association's Rumble Road show, are meant to appeal to youngsters.
Organizers have given the Miss Bikes, Blues & BBQ competition, a longstanding attraction for adults, less billing in the last few years. This year, it will move to the Benton County fairgrounds.
The debauchery associated with rallies such as those in Sturgis, S.D., or Daytona Beach, Fla., won't be found at Bikes, Blues & BBQ, said Tommy Sisemore, executive director. Organizers try to serve the public dually as a motorcycle rally and community festival giving back to charities, he said.
"By maintaining our core values, our community values of Northwest Arkansas, I feel like we have definitely stayed true to what Northwest Arkansas believes in," Sisemore said.
Eye of the beholder
What constitutes as family friendly can change depending on the family.
Katie Beth Burton, who has lived in town for 11 years, said she takes her kids to the festival every year. Her two girls, 10 and 6, and 2-year-old son, have gone since they were born.
They love it, Burton said. She keeps headphones on the 2-year-old and keeps him close to her, Burton said.
Burton said she also gets the rally isn't appropriate for kids after dark. She and the children's father, Drew Gibbs, make it a daytime excursion. They'll pick the mornings and afternoons and go all over Dickson Street, Baum-Walker Stadium or just go exploring. Crowds don't bother the family, Burton said.
The kids enjoy seeing the bikes and the sights and sounds. Burton said no one in the family has a motorcycle, they just enjoy the festival.
"It's an exciting event," she said. "The bikers aren't what most people make them out to be. They are usually hard-working, well-paid people and this is their vacation."
She understands it might not be for everyone.
"Your kids see worse on TV and video games than they will at Bikes, Blues & BBQ," she said. "It's a chance to do something with your children that they may enjoy."
Crystal Widger, who also lives in the city, described a much different experience with her family. She and her husband took their three sons, then ages 17, 5 and 4, to the 2015 festival.
The 17-year-old had a great time, Widger said. The young ones, not so much.
The revving engines really bothered the boys. The sailor language and drunken behavior the family saw wasn't appropriate for their little eyes and ears. A woman bared her breasts near Baum-Walker Stadium, Widger said.
She said she and her family aren't overly sensitive or easily offended. It just wasn't what they expected in the middle of the day.
"If it were not advertised as family friendly, that wouldn't have bothered me," Widger said. "I've been to bike rallies. I expect to see that. But when you advertise as family friendly, that shouldn't be."
Widger said she supports the rally and recognizes the benefit to charity and the city, but it was like taking children to a bar.
It was other people attending the rally, not the organizers, that created the bad experience, she said.
"They try. They can't control the people. They try the best they can," she said. "But they can't say, 'You guys can't drink and you can't do this and you can't do that,' because then nobody shows up."
A little history
The festival never targeted the so-called one-percenters, the outlaws, of the motorcycle world, said Brian Crowne, owner of George's Majestic Lounge and rally board member. The idea from the beginning was to appeal to a variety of motorcycle enthusiasts, and attendance grew from there, he said.
Crowne served as the musicians' representative in those early days. He recalled playing with his band on a flatbed trailer to a couple hundred motorcyclists during the first festival.
The first one took place in 2000, Police Chief Richard Watson saw the potential of hosting a rally in Northwest Arkansas, according to the event's website. He, Neal Crawford -- who managed Jose's Mexican Restaurant -- and Steve Ward, who was president of the Chamber of Commerce, pitched the idea to the chamber's board.
They envisioned it as a charity-based rally, with a policy against obscenity for official events and programs, Crowne said. Bikes and Blues was established as a nonprofit event enabling a board to govern the event.
The festival's board remained consistent in its approach as the rally grew, Crowne said.
Safety also has been a priority, Crowne said. The city closes Dickson Street during the festival's peak times. Security personnel keep an eye out for offensive material at vendor booths. Hundreds of law enforcement and private security officers help keep the peace.
Arrests at past rallies range in the dozens and mostly for public intoxication or disorderly conduct. City police have repeatedly said it's the locals who cause the most trouble.
Still, there's a time for kids and a time for adults, Crowne said.
"When the sun goes down, kids leave the street, and we get into a little more of a party," he said. "But it's never been the raucous stuff that you might think of for stereotypical bikers."
Broadening appeal
Sisemore compared the festival's approach to Dickson in general. Most parents wouldn't take their children to Dickson Street after 8 p.m. on a Friday anyway, he said.
Events outside downtown can appeal to children, Sisemore said. Baum-Walker Stadium will play host to helicopter rides and the motorcycle village. A cornhole tournament will be held Saturday.
Bikes, Bulls & BBQ will be at 6 p.m. Friday at the NWA Riding Club next to the Washington County Fairgrounds. A car and truck show is scheduled Saturday at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale. Sam's Club in Fayetteville will host the Kids' Q barbecue competition on Saturday.
Other events not directly associated with the rally also appeal to children. The Arkansas Air and Military Museum will have its World War II-era planes on display, with plane rides happening throughout the week. Bikes on the Bricks, being held in downtown Rogers for the third time. Several events, including the Frisco Inferno BBQ competition, will encourage people to take in the sights and sounds in the city's downtown.
The Wrestling Rumble is a new event this year Saturday evening at Baum-Walker. The little ones are welcome, Sisemore said.
Sisemore worked security at the rally for years before becoming director in 2016. His now 12-year-old daughter grew up around it. Sisemore said he always felt she was safe.
"I would not have my 9-month-old out at Daytona or Sturgis," he said. "Being family friendly is always on the forefront of our minds."
The rally takes its sanctioned events seriously, and anything with the festival's name attached to it is vetted, he said.
"I'm not the moral compass for everything, but things that I don't want to do or I'm not excited about, I put on the back burner and they tend to go away," he said.
Sometimes vendors break the rules, and those vendors don't come back, Sisemore said.
Not mutually exclusive
Ross Scalise, state coordinator for the Christian Motorcyclists Association, said he's seen more children and families hanging around every year where he sets up a booth at Baum Stadium. Scalise, with wife Vicki, has been attending the festival as the association's state coordinator for the past seven years.
Family friendliness and motorcycle culture aren't mutually exclusive ideas, he said. The association usually gets a warm reception at the festival, even if some in the crowd aren't interested in getting a prayer with their free cup of water, he said.
"That's why we're the Christian Motorcyclists Association, not the Christian Bikers," he said. "We like to visit and build relationships with everyone who rides a motorcycle, not just hardcore riders."
Peter terHorst, spokesman for the American Motorcyclists Association, a national group promoting motorcycle living and activity, said rallies have had a long history of being family friendly. The association holds or sanctions a number of events, such as Vintage Motorcycle Days in Lexington, Ohio, and the Americade rally in Lake George, N.Y., that have family camping or activities and exhibitions children can enjoy, he said.
"Events that add these activities realize that most attendees have family members, children and/or grandchildren, and they want to include them whenever possible," terHorst said.
NW News on 09/22/2019