EL gears up for bikers to roar into town
THE East London Esplanade is being revamped into a biking wonderland ahead of one of South Africa’s biggest bike rallies, the Harley-Davidson Africa Bike Week.
Thousands of bikes are expected to roar into East London this weekend for this annual bikers’ lifestyle event which starts tomorrow with a speech by Buffalo City Metro (BCM) mayor Xola Pakati at 7pm, followed by musical performances from Black Cat Bones, DJ Robin and Undertone.
Event co-organiser Tammy Frayne said a team of 40 people have been hard at work since last week preparing the Esplanade for the thousands of people set to descend on the city. It is the second time the rally is to be in East London.
She said the bikers’ event brought the fun of motorcycling to everybody. “Africa Bike Week is about bringing the lifestyle and hobby of bike riding to locals. It showcases the art of riding and the life behind it. It’s a fun weekend for everyone.”
She said months of planning went into executing the major event. “During the event our team expands up to 100 locals who all come together to make this a success. We’ve also had great support from BCM.
“All the services have been wonderful in getting everything done.”
BCM spokesman Samkelo Ngwenya said: “As the city we are very excited to be hosting the 10th Africa Bike Week. It’s all systems go in terms of preparations for one of the biggest bike events in the country. Setting up the infrastructure has commenced and final touches are being put through, with blitz cleaning taking place along the Esplanade in the next few days. We are calling on our people to come out in their numbers to enjoy this fun-filled event.
“We encourage those who are planning to visit the city for the long weekend holiday to arrive early and get to enjoy the event.”
Frayne said the lineup for the weekend included music performances by artists from across the country, including The Parlotones, Desmond and the Tutus and Jack Parow, set rides organised by locals and a fashion show on Saturday evening ahead of the mass exodus of bikes from the Esplanade towards Gonubie on Sunday morning.
“East London is a great tourist attraction that is under represented but once people are here they see how great it is,” she said.
“Last year’s event was amazing. We were blown away by the response we got, it was beyond expectation, and this year’s response has been three times greater than last year.”
Russel Osner, operations director of Hotel Osner, said the hotel was excited about being transformed into the Harley Davidson hotel for the event.
“We are very excited and enthusiastic about the Africa Bike Week. We believe that this a great event for promoting tourism in our area, all our beachfront hotels have experienced above average room occupancies for this long weekend. We look forward to welcoming Africa Bike Week back in 2019,” he said.