This motorcycle event started seven years ago with no budget and heavily dependent on volunteers. The first event drew about 350 motorcyclist. 2010 saw an estimated 10,000 bikes.
It is still operated and managed by volunteers (178 volunteers for 1,552 hours) and all funds raised for the event pay for the event. In other words, it does not cost the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce financially. The Mountain View Chamber sponsors this event each year, the third weekend in August. It is free to the public and features many family activities. It is a major fund raiser for ABC, and raises money to support the good works being done at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
The event offers a bug run, poker run, bike show, biker games and two free concerts, one on the town square, one at a local business, vendors and a biker church service that was attended by 500 bikers in 2010 in the natural setting of the city park amphitheater.
Parking around the historic town square is restricted to motorcycles only during Saturday’s activities. It has grown from the town square to encompass many side streets and other business parking lots. The event brings in visitors that are exposed to the unique culture of this area and generates thousands of dollars in tax revenue for the region. Mountains, Music, and Motorcycles focuses on the fact that Mountain View and the region is a motorcycle destination for motorcycle enthusiasts from around the nation. As Roadrunner Magazine states in an article that focused on Ozark Mountain Rides (June 2010) “This is some of the finest motorcycling in the US, period.”
This is a great example of how tapping into a passion of several local residents can produce an event that has a tourist impact on this region that extends beyond the event and its impact is felt as motorcyclist return time after time to enjoy the hospitality and wonderful scenic rides.
Visit http://www.mountainsmusicmotorcycles.com/about/
for more information.
