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Bikes, Blues, and BBQ


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Now that it's over, I thought maybe we could have a little discussion about this festival once again. As a local, someone who lives in downtown Fayetteville, I felt as if my town was completely taken over. The noise level was incredible. About 2 a.m. Sunday morning it was as if someone flipped a switch and it all went away. We could not sleep Thursday, Friday, or Saturday nights 'til then. The traffic was horrible. It took me 45 minutes to get my 15 year-old back from High School on Friday. The wife and I decided to take a little walk for some funnel cakes and BBQ on Saturday afternoon but when we got to Dixon it was so crowded we couldn't make it more than a block pushing our 5 month-old in the stroller. They were having a nice burnout contest in the street and we didn't think she should breathe all the rubber smoke so we left. Got no BBQ or funnel cakes!

I would like to compliment whoever is responsible for the clean-up and tear-down of this thing. The city looks great already. Fayetteville really does a great job maintaining the Dixon street area and I commend those who worked hard to get this place back together again.

Next year, I will be sure to list my guest house (all new, sleeps up to 6) with one of these rental companies so I can make $500 a night for three or four nights of this thing. With the money I make the wife, kids, and I will go somewhere else for a long weekend!

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How many was in attendance? 350,000? I went down twice for it. Saturday was aweful. Dickson was so packed you couldn't even move. I was mildly suprised with the noise, I can't bare to think what it must have been like to live near the festival or even on the UofA. Thank goodness it's over, now the city has plenty of money and we can get back to our lives.

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^

The way you two make it sound it's like Fayetteville whores itself one weekend a year, to put it bluntly. It sounds like the only people who care about BBB are the bikers and the city officials who get to spend the "easily" earned money. I thought Fayettevillians were all behind this big event, although it's very understandable to be objective if you live close enough to hear the noise. I wonder what the opinions of the Bikes n Boogie (?) was compared to BBB.

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How many was in attendance? 350,000? I went down twice for it. Saturday was aweful. Dickson was so packed you couldn't even move. I was mildly suprised with the noise, I can't bare to think what it must have been like to live near the festival or even on the UofA. Thank goodness it's over, now the city has plenty of money and we can get back to our lives.

I don't know when they'll release estimates. They do know more people were here than last year. They were expecting 300,000 to 350,000. If I were to guess the number was probably closer to the higher figure.

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^

The way you two make it sound it's like Fayetteville whores itself one weekend a year, to put it bluntly. It sounds like the only people who care about BBB are the bikers and the city officials who get to spend the "easily" earned money. I thought Fayettevillians were all behind this big event, although it's very understandable to be objective if you live close enough to hear the noise. I wonder what the opinions of the Bikes n Boogie (?) was compared to BBB.

I'm not sure if everyone has ever been behind this. This is Fayetteville after all. :lol: This is how I see it personally. Yes it is an inconvenience and it can be a bit frustrating. Although for that matter as far as traffic goes when there's Razorback football game traffic also is a lot worse around town as well. I admit I don't live that close to Dickson and if I did maybe I'd have a different opinion. But dispite the inconveniences I'm still proud to have this. There has to be something going on for it to become such a huge event in such a small amount of time. And of course it does bring in a lot of tax money to Fayetteville. We don't have the big companies found in NWA like some other NWA cities. And the university doesn't directly add to the city like a major company does in other cities. I'm also proud that this has become such a big thing and that so many people seem to like and appreciate this festival.

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It's a big economic event but boy does having a bunch of bikers in town white trash out any city. I'm not much on it.

I don't know, I won't say there isn;t that element but overall I think bikders get a bad rep. Despite all the huge crowds and such everyone I met seemed really nice people. People kept apologizing about getting in my pics when I was out with my camera. Sometimes it seemed a bit odd seeing some rough tough looking guy then profusely apologizing for not noticing I was taking some pics and getting in the shot. I'd also like to say I don't want to see Fayetteville becoming a snobby town like some other places I've been to. One of my first experiances in Telluride last year was to hear some locals complaining about all the 'middle class' tourist and how they were ruining the town. After that no matter how nice things were I just couldn't really enjoy the place. That's exactly what I don't want Fayetteville to become.

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I don't know, I won't say there isn;t that element but overall I think bikders get a bad rep. Despite all the huge crowds and such everyone I met seemed really nice people. People kept apologizing about getting in my pics when I was out with my camera. Sometimes it seemed a bit odd seeing some rough tough looking guy then profusely apologizing for not noticing I was taking some pics and getting in the shot. I'd also like to say I don't want to see Fayetteville becoming a snobby town like some other places I've been to. One of my first experiances in Telluride last year was to hear some locals complaining about all the 'middle class' tourist and how they were ruining the town. After that no matter how nice things were I just couldn't really enjoy the place. That's exactly what I don't want Fayetteville to become.

Mith--I don't want Fayetteville to be Telluride, CO, either, but niether do I want us to be Sturgis, SD. The burnout contests in the middle of Dickson were toxic to my kid, and the noise was really disruptive. I like bikes and think that's all cool--I dunno what we can do to stop the steamroller at this point. It seems destined to get bigger and bigger. All these Harley people want to get their costumes on and go somewhere and we are now one of the three places where they can do that. I predict it will get bigger and more disruptive, and less family-friendly over time.

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I was there for most of the event and there were very few burnouts. No more then a regular Saturday night when teens are in their pickups.

This is a great situation for Fayetteville and very minor problems. Overall the number of arrests were down from last year even though the event was larger and the beer garden itself was 40% bigger.

The event is a huge success for the city and residents are not always going to like things the city does. The residents of Fayetteville support this and the other cities envy Fayetteville for it.

Personally, I love it. But thats just because Im a young kid who loves bikes and the smell of fresh-burnt rubber.
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I was there for most of the event and there were very few burnouts. No more then a regular Saturday night when teens are in their pickups.

This is a great situation for Fayetteville and very minor problems. Overall the number of arrests were down from last year even though the event was larger and the beer garden itself was 40% bigger.

The event is a huge success for the city and residents are not always going to like things the city does. The residents of Fayetteville support this and the other cities envy Fayetteville for it.

I agree, I was there for the whole thing (worked the HQ tent with my wife from 8am until 11pm every night except Saturday when we sold out of shirts and were out of there by around 8:30). I saw two "burn out contests" all of the participants were promptly stopped and ticketed. Actually, anyone really revving their engines up at all were warned or ticketed.

Personally I hate the thing because I end up working my butt off for the whole week and don't get anything out of it other than some "thank you"s from a few moderately important people. If you are wondering why I do it at all, my wife HAS to do it as part of her job and if I even want to see her I am pretty much there. On the other hand, we also know that a lot of people relocate here because of the festival and it also brings in quite a few people and their money. That makes the event an overall positive, I just personally hate it ;)

We are in near constant contact with the police during the event and they pretty much say that there are no more true public intox than at a football game and that really big football wins actually get a lot more out of control. Most of the people at the rally are adults and while they are not exactly the kind of guy I would want to see any friend of mine date, they aren't complete idiots or inexperienced at drinking. They know that they won't get away with all that much so most of the drinking is done in the beer garden or bars and not too many people get all THAT trashed in "public." We weren't selling liquor, but still I only think we had one or two really irate people the whole time and I don't even think they were drunk, most of the people who were liquored up were pretty jovial.

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I can understand concerns about it getting even bigger and out of hand but I think Fayetteville will keep an eye out on it and try to keep it from getting bad. Although if more people keep coming then it will be even more disruptive to people. I can understand not everyone being real happy about it. I'm not into bikes so it doesn't exactly mean a lot to me. I just like the fact of having a suddenly major event like this and that people must like Fayetteville enough to keep coming back and making this such a big event. For me it's worth the inconvenience. But like I said I also don't live near Dickson and it doesn't affect me as much as others.

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Great to hear that as well. I work for the City and spent my whole week down there so I have first hand information as well. You had some great points.

I agree, I was there for the whole thing (worked the HQ tent with my wife from 8am until 11pm every night except Saturday when we sold out of shirts and were out of there by around 8:30). I saw two "burn out contests" all of the participants were promptly stopped and ticketed. Actually, anyone really revving their engines up at all were warned or ticketed.

Personally I hate the thing because I end up working my butt off for the whole week and don't get anything out of it other than some "thank you"s from a few moderately important people. If you are wondering why I do it at all, my wife HAS to do it as part of her job and if I even want to see her I am pretty much there. On the other hand, we also know that a lot of people relocate here because of the festival and it also brings in quite a few people and their money. That makes the event an overall positive, I just personally hate it ;)

We are in near constant contact with the police during the event and they pretty much say that there are no more true public intox than at a football game and that really big football wins actually get a lot more out of control. Most of the people at the rally are adults and while they are not exactly the kind of guy I would want to see any friend of mine date, they aren't complete idiots or inexperienced at drinking. They know that they won't get away with all that much so most of the drinking is done in the beer garden or bars and not too many people get all THAT trashed in "public." We weren't selling liquor, but still I only think we had one or two really irate people the whole time and I don't even think they were drunk, most of the people who were liquored up were pretty jovial.

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Mith

Good to hear your perspective. I do want to say this. If someone moves to Fayetteville and moves near Dickson Street they should do some investigation on the front end to make sure they want to live in that environment. Dickson is a entertainment district and will continue to become more and more tourist/party favorite.

The only gripe I would agree with are people who have lived there for years. The folks around the areaof the Gregg House who have lived in the area for 60 plus years.

Wait until the Legacy and the Divinity get completed. This will add to the overall tourist area and will increase traffic in the area on week days.

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Living in the downtown area not too far from Dickson, I can say the the noise level makes it hell to try to get to sleep or concentrate on pretty much anything for a few days, but the festival as a whole doesn't bother me one bit. True, it takes longer to go anywhere near downtown, and the city is a lot noisier than normal, but I look at it as being a big booster shot for the local economy, with minimal problems considering the people and money it brings in to the area. I'm not a motorcycle fan, and I don't really like how noisy they are, but I don't mind it for just under a week a year.

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Mith

Good to hear your perspective. I do want to say this. If someone moves to Fayetteville and moves near Dickson Street they should do some investigation on the front end to make sure they want to live in that environment. Dickson is a entertainment district and will continue to become more and more tourist/party favorite.

The only gripe I would agree with are people who have lived there for years. The folks around the areaof the Gregg House who have lived in the area for 60 plus years.

Wait until the Legacy and the Divinity get completed. This will add to the overall tourist area and will increase traffic in the area on week days.

I don't live near Dickson. I live in Wilson Park. The noise level was ridiculous. Idiots revving their doggy V-twins all night long. It's not even all motorcyclists--it's the Harley people I am complaining about when it comes to noise. You cannot compare the new hotels to this whatsoever. Those will be fine and won't add to my stress level one iota! I fully support the hotels and the condos and more restaurants.

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I love the all the energy. I'm not a fan of the noise and I heard a constant rumble at my house Wed-Sat. I agree about 2am each night the noise just stopped. I'm proud that Fayetteville hosts this event and that so many folks get to enjoy our part of the country for a few days. I went to Dickson Friday night and it was busy but I've seen it more packed. I think it was probably much busier on Saturday. I spent from 8pm-12 Friday on the street, in the bars, and in the beer garden. Everyone was well behaved and having a great time. I think the perspective on the biker demographics are much different then the actual demographics. Yeah there was a lot of leather but I don't think our visitors were even close to white trash.

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Maybe its the easy to find location and possibly cheaper land.

I guess Hwy 102 is pretty easy to find, but the Harley Shop is surrounded by old strip malls, flea markets, storage units and car washes. Not the most ideal location for a Harley Shop. And I do believe the land was cheaper when they bought it because not much development has occurred there until recently.

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As long as BBB is in Fayetteville and not up here in Benton County I fully support it. I just can't figure out why Harley Davidson opened up a shop in Rogers when Fayetteville is the city all the bikers seem to love.

I would guess it's where much of the current growth in NWA is and to also place it closer to Wal-mart and the vendors. That's where more of the disposable income in NWA is right now.

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I love the all the energy. I'm not a fan of the noise and I heard a constant rumble at my house Wed-Sat. I agree about 2am each night the noise just stopped. I'm proud that Fayetteville hosts this event and that so many folks get to enjoy our part of the country for a few days. I went to Dickson Friday night and it was busy but I've seen it more packed. I think it was probably much busier on Saturday. I spent from 8pm-12 Friday on the street, in the bars, and in the beer garden. Everyone was well behaved and having a great time. I think the perspective on the biker demographics are much different then the actual demographics. Yeah there was a lot of leather but I don't think our visitors were even close to white trash.

For the record, I have never said the bikers are all low class or trashy. I would agree that at least half or more are middle aged business men trying to act like bad asses. The Harley culture is more of a dress-up "Halloween" kind of thing than anything else. Hell's Angels are a vestige of the past. Harleys are so expensive that you have to make a certain amount of money just to afford one. That said, I hate the noise and the traffic. Bikes do not have to be so loud. They don't need to be revved constantly. I used to own a bike shop and have personally owned more than a couple hundred bikes.

I'm glad to have my city back!

I would like to start a new festival here. "Artists, Alchohol, and Asian (food)." This would be an event where all the quiet artists come to town, fill our hotels and bars, drink heavily, and eat lots of sushi. Somehow I have to believe if we had 300,000 of these people we'd get all the benefits and few of the negatives associated with the mega-plus-sized wannabe bad-asses who bought $20,000 bikes with $5000 worth of clothing such as the crowd that BB&BBQ brings us. :yahoo:

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I would like to start a new festival here. "Artists, Alchohol, and Asian (food)." This would be an event where all the quiet artists come to town, fill our hotels and bars, drink heavily, and eat lots of sushi. Somehow I have to believe if we had 300,000 of these people we'd get all the benefits and few of the negatives associated with the mega-plus-sized wannabe bad-asses who bought $20,000 bikes with $5000 worth of clothing such as the crowd that BB&BBQ brings us. :yahoo:

Ha Ha Ha, I love it. :rofl:

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Personally, I love it.

Not because I'm a fan of bikes or bikers necessarily, but because I'm a fan of what it does for the City and the region and my business in particular.

I'm very familiar with all of the negatives that have been mentioned--I live around Wilson Park and my my business is located on Dickson Street. But, I'm a firm believer that the positives far outweigh all of the negatives.

Businesswise we have a phenominal week--basically equivalent to the business that a Razorback Football game brings us. But in addition to that, we also lease our entire parking lot to BBBQ vendors who are willing to pay some big money for prime Dickson Street vending locations. Of course the downside is that it absolutely works us to death Wednesday through Saturday, not to mention the fact that we are essentially closed to our regular customers (who make my business) for almost a full week.

As for the people that BBBQ brings to town, I would venture to say that 90%+ of them are well to do, well behaved and an absolute pleasure to deal with. As I have personally witnessed, many of the 'bad' folks who are associated with BBBQ aren't really bikers themselves, rather they are 'transients' who travel from festival to festival looking for cash day work with various vendors. They usually start arriving around Dickson a few days befor BBBQ and slowly filter out of town the following week. Interestingly though, the only problems that we've ever really had (although minor) have come from locals (usually younger 20-somethings) and notorious Dickson Street regulars. Even the police will confirm this, as annualy a significant percentage of the arrests are of 'locals'--folks who just show up to party, rather than those who show up in the true spirit of BBBQ.

I guess to summarize my ramblings about how I feel about BBBQ I'll say what I always tell my regular customers who ask me how I feel about it: "I love to see it come every year and after 5 days I love to see it go".

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