Jump to content

Bikes, Blues, & BBQ Festival


Mith242

Recommended Posts

Well the BBB festival is almost here. It will be running from Sept 28-Oct 1. And it simply keeps getting bigger. Last year there was a little over 200,000 people at the festival. This year they are expecting nearly 300,000 and over 70,000 bikes. It's really weird how the festival has come about just in the past 5 years. A lot of people weren't too crazy about having it here in Fayetteville at first. Now it's become one of the largest bike festivals in the country. I think there is only one or two other ones that attract more people. Even Governor Huckabee has made the BBQ contest the state's official BBQ championship. And with the BBB festival almost here it's not too far away to all the crafts fairs and festivals, including the mother of them all the War Eagle Craft Fair. With all of that and the Razorback football games (okay maybe we'll have to see on the football aspect), this is a big tourist season for northwest Arkansas and Fayetteville in particular.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 121
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Fall is my favorite time of year, and there's nowhere I'd rather be during fall than in NW AR. And I guess I'm not the only one.

BBB is always pretty fun. I have several friends who have motorcycles and are really anticipating it. As much as I hate all the extra traffic, I really like all the stuff that goes on.

I really wish Fayetteville had more/a music festivals. For instance Austin has ACL and SxSW and then there's stuff like Willie Nelson's picnic, etc. The thing at the mall is a good jump I guess as far as venue's go. But I'd really like to see a place where bands are playing (bands people have heard of) constantly.

I'm proud of university programs for having several free shows at the chi omega theater. But I'd like to see those kinds of bands come through more often.

Anyway, the next week should be fun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fall is my favorite time of year, and there's nowhere I'd rather be during fall than in NW AR. And I guess I'm not the only one.

BBB is always pretty fun. I have several friends who have motorcycles and are really anticipating it. As much as I hate all the extra traffic, I really like all the stuff that goes on.

I really wish Fayetteville had more/a music festivals. For instance Austin has ACL and SxSW and then there's stuff like Willie Nelson's picnic, etc. The thing at the mall is a good jump I guess as far as venue's go. But I'd really like to see a place where bands are playing (bands people have heard of) constantly.

I'm proud of university programs for having several free shows at the chi omega theater. But I'd like to see those kinds of bands come through more often.

Anyway, the next week should be fun.

I agree with you there, what Fayetteville has is nice but I also wish they'd have a little more as far as music festivals and such.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bikes, Blues and BBQ is almost upon us here in Fayetteville. Aside from some rain on Wednesday there should be some nice weather for it, some cooler temps also. Some major sponsors are keeping an eye on on the festival this year like Harley Davidson and next year's festival could have some major sponsors. There are some who are saying this event is second only to the Sturgis Rally in South Dakota. I've heard numbers around 225,000 to just under 300,000 people expected. Pretty good for a festival that basically started in an alley just 6 years ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went down there last night. It was a little tough to find parking. Pretty much all the spots close to Dickson were taken up by vendors and such. I know the walton art center lot has always been packed. But for some reason I can't remember the rest being taken up too.

Anyway, not a bad crowd for a cold Wed night.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How's it lookin' on Dixon Street Mith?

You mean for the BBB Festival or just in general? Dickson is still slowly going through some changes. It had stopped for a little while. There are several small developments going on in the area. That and looks like some new restaurants will be on their way soon. I've been surprised some areas have stayed vacant for a little while. With the way things are going I'm not sure how much longer developments will keep coming to Dickson. I'm wondering if more will start branching off Dickson onto the other nearby areas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What in the world are they building behind most the bars. They have a large area fenced off and they've dug themselves a giant hole. There might be a sign somewhere but I haven't noticed it.

It's either going to have a nice basement or it's going to be tall.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You mean for the BBB Festival or just in general? Dickson is still slowly going through some changes. It had stopped for a little while. There are several small developments going on in the area. That and looks like some new restaurants will be on their way soon. I've been surprised some areas have stayed vacant for a little while. With the way things are going I'm not sure how much longer developments will keep coming to Dickson. I'm wondering if more will start branching off Dickson onto the other nearby areas.

With the Festival.

But now that you mentioned it, do you see Dixon Street becoming more "Urban".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With the Festival.

But now that you mentioned it, do you see Dixon Street becoming more "Urban".

I haven't been down Dickson recently, I've been running some errands and such and doing some packing before my vacation on Friday. So I won't be around for a little over a week. Dickson could become more urban but I'm not sure it will happen anytime soon. I'd really like to see someone do something with some of the areas near Dickson, especially on College near Dickson.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I heard the city was posting signs trying to discourage the bikers from tearing up the city, Yeah, like that's going to work. It goes with the territory.

I actually saw those signs. I believe they put up about 6 of them. They actually got the idea from Daytona Beach. Last year during Daytona Beach Bike Week, they put them up and aparently they seemed to work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I heard the city was posting signs trying to discourage the bikers from tearing up the city, Yeah, like that's going to work. It goes with the territory.

The biggest thing is the noise. And honestly there hasn't been really that many problems. Many people weren't keen on the idea at first because they thought and bunch on rowdy bikers would be around tearing things up. But today's bikers aren't what they used to be. It does get a bit noisy around town with all the bikes around. Luckily I don't live very close to Dickson. I could see people there not looking forward to the noise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

About the noise, I really don't mind too much. I would definately promote safety, but let bikers have their fun making noise. They're only here for what, a week? I can put up with that.

Actually less than a week, although I think some did come early. That and what some people also don't realize is that they raise a lot of money for charities also.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Although I did miss most of the festival I did hear that there was a big British soccer player who stopped by. He just happened to be riding across America this summer and heard about BBB so he stopped by. And no it wasn't Beckham, about the only soccer player Americans are familiar with these days. It was an older player Ian Wright. Wish I could have seen that, seeing that he used to play for a team I like, Arsenal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

They finally released figures on BBB. There were 90,000 bikes and about 270,000 people at this years festival. Up from around 70,000 bikes and 200,000 people last year. They also said in had a $40 Mil impact for the city and area. On a different note I heard the Arkansas State Fair in Little Rock broke attendance records for this year. I don't remember the exact numbers but it was over 400,000. Not sure how long the fair lasts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They finally released figures on BBB. There were 90,000 bikes and about 270,000 people at this years festival. Up from around 70,000 bikes and 200,000 people last year. They also said in had a $40 Mil impact for the city and area. On a different note I heard the Arkansas State Fair in Little Rock broke attendance records for this year. I don't remember the exact numbers but it was over 400,000. Not sure how long the fair lasts.

Yeah- the Soccer player was doing a special for the BBC. This soccer player was from England and was traveling with a friend who is a biker and some media. He was at the Gypsy on Thursday or Friday night of the rally. Seemed like a big deal. Also two police officers from Daytona were in town to give some advice on the event. One less arrest then last year according to the media !! Great festival for a great area !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

There was talk of charging a $500 to $600 fee to all the vendors of the BBB. But it sounds like that's been turned down because the city was worried that it would make Fayetteville seem unfriendly to festivals. But it does look like they are wanting to make a bigger effort to collect sales tax at the event. They think that would actually generate a lot more money than charging the vendors a fee.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There was talk of charging a $500 to $600 fee to all the vendors of the BBB. But it sounds like that's been turned down because the city was worried that it would make Fayetteville seem unfriendly to festivals. But it does look like they are wanting to make a bigger effort to collect sales tax at the event. They think that would actually generate a lot more money than charging the vendors a fee.

Charging the vendors a fee is out of the cities hands. They want to increase the fee because they can and because people will pay it. Last year people complained about the fees but BBQ had to start turning vendors down 2 months prior to the festival. All of the money made from BBQ is donated to local charities, so not only does the festival prodive millions of dollars into the local economy but it helps out local cahrities.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

It's slowly getting closer to BBB. I've seen that they are expexting 300,000 for this years turnout. Sounds like they are also expanding festivities over to the Randall Tyson Track Center aside from Dickson and the NWA Mall.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.