NEC SHOW AXED
Covid restrictions mean Motorcycle Live 2020 won’t take place
This year’s Motorcycle Live has been called off due to the coronavirus pandemic. The show was scheduled to take place between November 21 and 29 at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre, but organisers this week decided that ‘people had to come before pennies’ and made the incredibly difficult decision to call this year’s event off.
The show has been at the NEC since 1981 and last year attracted more than 104,000 visitors over nine actionpacked days. It’s been a constant in the biking calendar and the only blip in nearly 40 years came in 1990 when snow saw the show shortened. Managing Director of Motorcycle Live, Finlay McAllan, told MCN: “We had to put people’s safety first and as organisers that is a huge responsibility. We looked at all options and possible ways of running the event, but when you can’t deliver the event you want to, or deliver what visitors want, it becomes a pretty straightforward decision.
“With it being such a massive show, there are a lot of other people and businesses involved and the sooner you can make a decision, the sooner everyone involved can adjust their plans. We have retailers who would start ordering stock for the show soon and massive stand plans being drawn up, so the sooner a decision can be made, the better in some ways. “Running an event like Motorcycle
Live under the Covid-19 related restrictions – such as adhering to social distancing requirements, restricting attendance numbers and dictating the direction of people around the hall – all ultimately would have impacted negatively on the experience of those attending and therefore the show’s essence.
“All of the manufacturers have been supportive and can see the sense in this very difficult decision. Of course it will have some financial impact on the industry and the MCIA’s plans to market and support motorcycling in the UK, but we will work together on getting some positive messages about biking out there.
“Right now, we are just dealing with managing the decision to not run the show. At the end of the day, you have to put people before pennies.” Motorcycle Live will return in 2021 on November 20-28.
McAllan added: “Rest assured we will continue working behind the scenes to deliver you a fantastic show in 2021!”
‘We had to put safety first. It’s a huge responsibility’ FINLAY McALLAN