Bike rally proposed for Yarmouth

Will there be another motorcycle rally in southwestern Nova Scotia next summer?

The idea – presented to Yarmouth town council last week – is to have an event in Yarmouth in late August, one that would feature a variety of biker-related activities, competitions, music and more, said Peter Robertson, who spoke to council recently during a committee of the whole meeting.

He said the proposed event would help bring many people to the area and be good for the economy.

Council asked him to prepare a more detailed proposal for them to consider, which Robertson, a Digby resident, said he would do.

Robertson was a co-founder of the Digby Wharf Rat Rally, but he no longer is involved in that event.

He is looking to have an event in Yarmouth the week before the

Digby one. Next year’s Wharf Rat Rally, the 16th edition of the event, is scheduled for Sept. 2-6.

In an interview, Robertson acknowledged things will have to start moving soon in order to organize a new event for next summer.

“We need to get rolling on this by January if we’re going to do it,” he said.

As for what a Yarmouth rally would have to offer, he said there would be biker-related activities – including a burnout competition at the airport and bikebuilder competitions – along with musical entertainment, featuring “major bands, local bands.”

He envisions an event being held over several days, with things happening downtown, at the airport and on the waterfront.

Asked if what he’s proposing would negatively impact the Wharf Rat Rally, he said, “No, it’s going to enhance it because the vendors will already be here ... Bikers like to come and they like to stay, so they would come for this one and then they would go to the Digby one.”

Contacted late last week, a representative of the Wharf Rat Rally said they didn’t know about this proposed new event. He said Wharf Rat Rally organizers were not prepared to comment on it yet. Robertson, meanwhile, was asked why he is looking to organize a rally in Yarmouth now.

“Just because it’s time to take it to another level, right? And people are looking for new and upcoming events,” he said.