Jolly ho-ho-ho from Santa as bikers geared to save festival

BMAD bikers who brought Father Christmas to Paignton town centre on Saturday had their own reasons to celebrate despite the pouring rain.

The Bikers Make A Difference group has confirmed that the 2019 BMAD Bike Festival on Paignton seafront in May will go ahead.

Organisers had appealed for backing from the local business community as the success of the festival pushed up costs.

BMAD called on the community to dig deep as the number of people attending the internationally-acclaimed festival rose, bringing with them increased stewarding and security costs.

The bikers had been ready to pull the plug on the event after a slow response. But now seafront and Torbay Road businesses have come forward with pledges of cash and support and an online crowdfunding campaign has raised more than £4,000.

BMAD founder Kelvin Halloran confirmed: “There will definitely be a BMAD Bike Festival next year. There is still an awful long way to go, but people are pledging money to us.

“We are OK for next year, but we need to make the event sustainable and we are working very hard to keep it going,” he said.

He said BMAD had been pleased to see traders in the seafront area working together

Bikers Make A Difference take Santa to his grotto in Paignton to support the festival, which brings tens of thousands of people to town on the May Day bank holiday each year.

National companies and the motorcycle industry were beginning to see the value of the event, which has been compared favourably to the world-famous Daytona Bike Week in Florida.

“It all adds up,” he said. “If people have held back on donating, wondering if next year’s event is going on, we can now tell them for sure that it is. We are going to do it, so please put your fivers in.

“We’ll make sure we put on a great event for you!”

The bikers took to the streets of Paignton on Saturday despite the pouring rain to deliver Father Christmas safely to his grotto in Crossways.

Motorbikes of all shapes and sizes gathered in Victoria Street before a procession round the town and final down through the Crossways shopping centre itself.

To donate for the festival, click gofundme.com/ bmad-festival