Atlanticade is back!
Motorcycle festival returns this week for those who love to ride, and those who don't but hope to one day.
Along with the hot summer sun comes a hot summer sound. Every year when summer rolls around and the weather warms, you can hear motorbikes come out of hiding. The revving engines roll out as quickly as the sun does.
Dale Hicks is counting on the province's love of motorbikes this summer, so much so he anticipates 5,000-plus motorcyclists riding into Moncton during the 2008 Atlanticade Festival from June 25 to 29.
This five-day festival's goal is to provide motorcyclists with exciting events and opportunities to ride, while bringing motorcycle owners, enthusiasts and friends together.
"We're a non-profit organization," Hicks, chairman of Atlanticade says. "We want to create a unique and exciting event that will cater to Atlantic bikers," explains participant Paul Pineau. "Another point of Atlanticade is to show people that biking is OK and it's really nothing to be scared of. It's just a sport with normal people, and an event like this really brings a lot to our community."
Atlanticade is the only event of its kind in Atlantic Canada, and is the only five-day motorcycle festival.
"Most festivals are only one to three days long," says Hicks, who has been riding for over 30 years. Atlanticade is for all motorcyclists and organizers hope to improve the image of motorcycling and attract new people to the sport.
"It's really great to finally see a big event being planned in the Atlantic Provinces," explain bikers Tom and Kayle Eno who have been biking for over 30 years. "We've always driven to Florida and the States to participate in events like this, but having one right at home is really exciting!"
Hicks says Atlanticade wasn't created overnight, and people have wanted to do it for years.
"A few smaller events were planned, just one or two-day festivals, but we always wanted to do something big and unique. So I just thought, 'let's stop talking about it and just do it'," Hicks says.
The Atlanticade Festival is only in its second year, but Hicks predicts a big crowd.
"Last year we had 600 registered bikes, which is close to 1,000 people," he says. "However, there were many more bikers than just those who registered," though Hicks encourages all those interested in the event to register as there are more opportunities to participate.
"If you want to be able to enjoy every aspect of the event, it's very important you register," he says, citing the committee's need for finances to run the event as a major factor. "We have many amazing sponsors, but they can't do it all. By paying your $25 per person registration fee it allows us to keep the festival the first-class event we want it to be."
With any event, however there are challenges. And in a city where you can have rain on one end of town and sunshine on the other, weather is definitely a factor in the success of this event.
"Last year it was horrible weather and it rained almost everyday," biker of three years, Gene Devereux says. "The weather plays a huge factor on the success of the event. If the weather is accommodating then this event could be huge."
Hicks says the committee has high hopes for where the festival will go in five years.
"We see it becoming a long-time annual thing. We have made projections to tourism NB and to the city, and have many economic spin-off projections for the next five years."
A new event added to the festival this year is the custom bike building competition. This competition was created to assist Bernice MacNaughton High School (BMHS) in their project to build a motorcycle from scratch. "They're the only school in Canada that builds a bike from scratch. It's really very unique, and we wanted to support them in this," explains Hicks.
In order to support the school financially in their bike-building efforts, Atlanticade organized the North Eastern Custom Bike Building Championship. This event will judge different custom bikes that individuals have built, among these will be BMHS's "Betty Bobber". Admittance to this event will cost $5 with all proceeds going to the BMHS Bike Klub.
Two memorial awards will also be presented during the festival; the Ben Richard Memorial Award for the most experienced biker, and the Rino Fournier Memorial Award for the longest haul.
"We wanted to honour these two local men who were heavily involved with biking their entire lives, and give something special to the most senior biker and the biker who travelled from the furthest away," says Hicks.
All the proceeds from Atlanticade go directly to the Children's Wish Foundation.
"We do this because we love motorcycles and riding just as much as every other participant, we don't want any of the money. Registration helps keep costs down for all those involved and make children's wishes come true," explains Hicks. Last year Atlanticade donated $10,000 to the Children's Wish Foundation.
"Two of the most popular events of last year were the downtown street party, and cruise into the Bay," says Hicks. Both events bring participants and the public together and allow bikers to show-off their bikes and talk with others about their experiences and motorcycles.
"Atlanticade has done a great job at keeping in mind that they have a lot of people to please. Not just all the bikers but the community too. They've done well to plan events to accommodate everyone's interests," explains biker Gary Bellinger.
Not a biker? Hicks says not to worry.
"It's not just an event for bikers. We have things planned so that families can come and enjoy the fun, take a look at the bikes, ask questions, and hear stories from all the bikers," explains Hicks.
"I want to encourage all the folks in Moncton who think bikers are just a bunch of loud pipes to come down and talk to the bikers, hear our stories," says Bellinger. "Biking - it's not all rowdy. Come find out what we're all about. There are some mighty important people who like to hop on a bike!"
A complete schedule of the weeks events can be found at www.atlanticade.ca. Registration can be done online or upon arrival June 25. For more information call, (506) 855-5749, or go to www.atlanticade.ca.
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