Bikefest Draws Smaller Crowds, Refocused Effort
By Christina Lee Knauss
The Atlantic Beach Bikefest may be heading back to its roots.
This year, as the City of Myrtle Beach continued its ongoing effort to rid the city limits of the crowds and noise caused by May's two annual motorcycle rallies, bumper-to-bumper traffic dissipated in Myrtle during the annual Memorial Day weekend bike rally May 22-25.
Instead, larger crowds showed up within the narrow limits of Atlantic Beach on the north end, and traffic was heavy in North Myrtle Beach as well.
Atlantic Beach officials estimated about 175,000 people attended the rally, compared with crowds estimated at 400,000 or more in 2008 and other recent years. Forty vendors set up within the town's limits to sell everything from motorcycle accessories to handbags, CDs and T-shirts. This was about half as many as had showed up in previous years, officials said.
Despite the smaller crowds, Bikefest organizers were generally happy about the event. Organizers expected the cash-strapped town to generate a small profit from vendor fees and other revenues related to the Bikefest.
In interviews reported in regional newspapers and on regional TV stations, both business owners and visitors indicated it would be a positive thing if the Bikefest eventually became centered back on the north end of the Strand, where it originally started.
During the early and mid-'90s, Bikefest visitors stayed mostly on the north end and cruised the streets of Atlantic Beach and surrounding areas. In the late '90s and especially after 2000, however, Bikefest started attracting more college-age visitors who came to the area in cars. Crowds spilled over to Myrtle Beach.
The Atlantic Beach Bikefest and the Harley-Davidson rally were both targeted by Myrtle Beach city officials in 2008 after a college student's shooting sparked complaints and concerns about the size of both rallies. Myrtle Beach passed a helmet law and strict crowd control ordinances designed to deter the bike rallies, which both had grown to attract hundreds of thousands of riders in recent years.
Atlantic Beach's Memorial Day event has traditionally attracted more black motorcyclists on sport bikes, while the Harley rally attracts mostly white bikers, who also tend to be older.
Myrtle Beach also ran an advertising campaign declaring that bike rallies in Myrtle Beach were over, but surrounding communities such as North Myrtle Beach, Surfside Beach and Horry County proper did not pass such restrictive laws. North Myrtle Beach, Atlantic Beach and the South Strand generally advertised that they were "open for business" during both rallies.
While Harley-Davidson riders largely subscribed to a boycott of Myrtle Beach ("Not a Dime in '09"), the Atlantic Beach visitors did not take part in any formal effort. Some motorcyclists and cars were seen on Ocean Boulevard over Memorial Day, but nowhere near what was seen in 2007 or 2008.
Mark Kruea, spokesman for the City of Myrtle Beach, said the city's leaders were generally pleased with the way Memorial Day played out there.
"The month of May overall has met our expectations," Kruea said in a recent phone interview. "We knew there would be a transition. It was hard to tell from the crowds on Ocean Boulevard who came and who stayed away, but we do know there were fewer bikes and definitely fewer cars on the Boulevard."
Kruea said some businesses were reporting an increase in families and other visitors during the Memorial Day weekend, but there was no hard data yet as to what demographic visited Myrtle Beach during the long weekend.
As with the Harley-Davidson rally a week earlier, it was impossible to tell if the decline in crowd numbers came about because of the new Myrtle Beach ordinances or simply because of the economy.
Marc Jordan, president of the North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce, said on May 28 the city was polling hotels and motels within its limits to determine occupancy rates during Memorial Day weekend. He said it would take a few weeks to compile all the information, but initial indicators seemed to show that the North Strand area had a good Memorial Day.
"The early thinking was that Memorial Day was pretty positive for North Myrtle Beach and the area," Jordan said. "Most of what we've heard has been good."
Jordan also said he had not heard of any major problems on the North Strand regarding law enforcement, crowds or traffic during the Memorial Day weekend. Officials from the Horry County Police Department and City of North Myrtle Beach Police said there was no dramatic increase in complaints or calls during the weekend as compared with recent years.
Now that both rallies are history, only time will tell whether the changes of 2009 will continue on, or whether the decrease in crowds was a one-time anomaly due to the economy, boycotts or other factors.
In the mean time, groups on both sides of the Bike Week debate are geared up to continue their respective battles.
Efforts such as Help Eliminate Lousy Politicians (HELP) and Business Owners Organized to Support Tourism (BOOST) are advocating efforts to oust Myrtle Beach's current city officials and step up efforts to bring the bike rallies back to the city.
Meanwhile, at a Myrtle Beach City Council meeting held Tuesday, May 26, the day after Memorial Day, many of the 200 people gathered voiced support for Myrtle Beach's efforts to get rid of the rallies.
One business owner, Charlie Campbell of the Dead Dog Saloon in Murrells Inlet, is advocating a re-branding effort that would market the Harley-Davidson rally as a "Grand Strand," "South Strand" or "Murrells Inlet" event.
Atlantic Beach officials, meanwhile, will be happy if folks start to consider their town as the true home of the Memorial Day rally again.
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