Bring On The Bikes, The Blues, & The BBQ

Staff File Photo by Blair Jackson: Bikers cruising down Dickson Street Saturday afternoon at a previous Bikes Blues and BBQ rally.

It’s that time of year again. Students are back, the trees are changing color, and several hundred thousand bikers from all over the continent will soon make their way to our streets.

Wednesday Sept. 24 will mark the beginning of Bikes, Blues, and BBQ and this year promises to be larger than any before.

Bikes, Blues, and BBQ started in 2000, when I was just 12 or 13 and totally ripe for the fun. It was designed as ‘the largest charity rally in the nation,’ supporting many charities with the revenue brought in by the bikers. As more time has gone on, the rally has grown and grown, and shows little-to-no sign of petering out.

“Well this year is the 15th anniversary of the festival, and people are always fond of multiples of five,” said Coleson Burns, assistant event director for BBBBQ. “There are new aspects to the rally this year that have never been done before. There will be VIP rides put on by Jack Daniels and Cherokee Casino, a military appreciation ride on Saturday, and the complete expansion of the festival to Springdale.”

Last year’s economic impact study put the numbers of bikers around 350,000 for the rally, but this year, being the 15th anniversary, Burns is expecting anywhere from 400,000-500,000 bikers to be in the city and take part in the festival.

Staff File Photo by Blair Jackson: An overhead view of Dickson Street during the peak of the bike rally.

One of the largest events that the rally has is a parade of all the bikers, which used to start at the mall. The parade is scheduled for Saturday, and will start at the Washington Fairgrounds at 4 p.m. and will make its way down College Avenue and finally, to Dickson Street.

As well as the festivities that have been there since the beginning, this year will see some new events that anyone, whether you ride a bike or not, will enjoy. There’s even a karaoke contest at the Washington Fairgrounds on Saturday.

The Springdale side of things will be at Arvest Ballpark. Everything will be on Saturday, starting at 8 a.m. with a car show and a vintage bike show as well. From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. will be a steak cookoff competition alongside an appetizer contest from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Dinner is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., and there will be some inflatables for the kids. The Soldier’s Wish project, an organization dedicated to supporting America’s military members, will host Fender City Junction as the live music headliner from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Included in the aforementioned live music is an old-school NWA favorite, Oreo Blue. Their saxist will be joining them on stage for the first time in quite a while as well. On top of Oreo Blue, Foley’s Van and Andy Frasco will be playing at George’s Majestic Lounge, The Soldier’s Wish Foundation will be putting on live music at the Arvest Ballpark, Samantha Fish — after a smash performance last year — will also be returning to the festival this year.

When all is said and done music-wise, Oreo Blue, Chubby Carrier, The Mace Brothers, Steve Pryor, Joe Giles and The Homewreckers, and Samantha Fish will all take to the stage together for the ultimate in bluesy jam sessions this side of 1935.

As many locals will know, this time of year sees the largest influx in revenue and traffic for our small city. Expanding to Springdale is definitely going to help take some of the stress off of Fayetteville, where 350,000 bikers crawling the streets have always led to a few complaints on noise.

Staff File Photo by Blair Jackson: Riders from Wisconsin parked this deathrider in front of Hog Haus during Bikes, Blues and BBQ.

However, take it or leave it, Bikes Blues and BBQ is good for our city, and it is quickly becoming the largest motorcycle festival in the United States, and is soon expected to overtake Sturgis as the No. 1 in the nation. That’s a mark of pride, guys, and we should all welcome the bikers because, while they are loud, they bring along some serious fun.

Whether you ride a motorcycle or not, one thing is definite; there will be no shortage of things to do at this year’s rally. With the expansion to Springdale, this year promises to be the largest that has ever happened, and it could put BBBBQ head-and-shoulders above the competition. Whether you feel like eating some excellent food, listening to some excellent music, or just watching a parade of hundreds of thousands of motorcycles, it’s all there, just waiting to be done.

On a sidenote, do mopeds count as bikes? If so, I’m curious how many mopeds we will see during the parade this year, since the number of mopeds in town seems to have exponentially grown as time goes by.