Residents of two minds on move of bikers festival

Money good, crowding awful

FAYETTEVILLE — Reactions from residents and businesses about Bikes, Blues & BBQ moving from Fayetteville to Rogers range from optimism to disappointment.

Rally organizers announced Thursday that Rogers will serve as the host city to the festival, happening Oct. 5-8. For 20 years, Fayetteville served as host city for the event that grew from about 300 participants to around 300,000 in recent years.

The board for the rally’s nonprofit said the move was largely for logistical reasons. Fayetteville is in the middle of its arts corridor project, which will have the lots where official Bikes and Blues vendors set up under construction for about two years.

Tommy Sisemore, the rally’s executive director, said the move likely will last for subsequent years. It would be difficult to grow and plan the event on a year-to-year basis, he said. Steve Clark, president of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce and a member of the rally’s board, said the event has become more regional in recent years and moving the host city to Rogers fell in line with that trend.

The most recent rally happened in 2019. The event was canceled for the first time in 2020 because of the covid-19 pandemic. Last year, a rally was planned for September; however, the University of Arkansas withdrew an agreement that would have allowed the event to set up at a parking lot near Baum-Walker Stadium, citing concerns with hospitalizations in the region.

Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan recognized the rally board’s scheduling and space concerns.

“I think it is understandable that the BBBBQ board decided to move the event,” he said.

Rogers is uniquely qualified to host the event, said Raymond Burns, president of the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce. The chamber worked with the rally board to lure the event to Rogers. The city has a convention center, revitalized downtown with a new stage at Railyard Park, and plenty of hospitality and shopping options, right near major highways, he said.

“I think it just became obvious to everyone that that was probably the next logical step for the festival,” Burns said.

A 2014 study from the University of Arkansas Center for Business and Economic Research found that rally attendees from outside Northwest Arkansas spend on average $402 each during the event. With an estimated 170,000 out-of-town visitors among the 300,000 total attendees, the estimated figure comes to a nearly $69 million overall economic impact. Adjusted for inflation, that’s an estimated $79 million in today’s dollars.

Jeff Cooperstein, senior research assistant with the center, said the study’s numbers measured regional economic impact. It stands to reason Fayetteville’s percentage of the pie will shrink, he said.

However, more activities related to Bikes and Blues have been happening in Benton County since 2014, so some dollars were already shifting northward, Cooperstein said.

“With the hosting in 2022 happening in Rogers, I would expect even more dollars to stay in Rogers and Benton County,” he said. “But since Dickson Street has a long history with the bike riders, I certainly expect significant dollars to still be spent in Fayetteville.”

Some residents and businesses see the move as Fayetteville’s loss and Rogers’ gain. Others say the event has become so far-reaching that there’s plenty of economic benefit to go around.

A NEW HOME

Ashley Keesling, owner of City Pump on Walnut Street in Rogers, a former gas station converted to a pub with food trucks, said she was of two minds about the move.

From a business perspective, she said it’ll be great for the city to draw so many new visitors. Her place undoubtedly will benefit. But as a resident, Keesling is not as enthusiastic.

Keesling lives about three blocks from the business and said she usually skips town during the rally. The motorcycle traffic comes to Rogers even with Fayetteville serving as the host site, she said.

“I look forward to the business, but I’m concerned about the traffic and noise and that aspect,” Keesling said.

Moonbroch Pub, a three-story brewery and restaurant also on Walnut Street, will be ready for the bikers, said Dale Hunter, general manager. The business was already getting ready to open a back window for food pickups with a patio and beer garden facing Second Street, and the timing works out, he said.

“We knew Rogers was growing, and we wanted to be ahead of it,” Hunter said. “Just to hear that they’re coming brings another level for us.”

Erica McFarland, a Lowell resident who said she spends a lot of time in Rogers, said she was glad to see the region be able to retain an event on the scale of Bikes and Blues with the revenue it will bring to the city. She said Rogers is booming and Fayetteville doesn’t have a lot to offer anymore.

IT’S BEEN FUN

A lot of downtown Fayetteville business owners had a feeling Bikes and Blues was about to move, said Tim Farrell, owner of Farrell’s Lounge on Dickson Street. The place is usually booming with bikers downing beers and burgers during the festival. Farrell said he anticipated getting some business, but not as much, when the rally happens in Rogers this year.

There may be a silver lining, however. Many local residents either stay home or leave when the bikers come to town, Farrell said. They may instead come support local businesses knowing the host city will be in another county, he said.

“We did good business, but I understand how it kind of hurt some other businesses too, and it sort of drove some locals out of town,” Farrell said. “My hope is that if we’re not going to get the bikers, then I want all the locals.”

Todd Martin, owner of Southern Food Company and East Side Grill in Fayetteville and Theo’s in Fayetteville and Rogers, said the rally never really benefited his businesses. However, he saw the larger positive impact for the city with increased sales tax revenue and certain businesses downtown having huge nights.

Martin said he worried that Bikes and Blues rolling northward could serve as a sign of things to come. Martin lives in Fayetteville and has three of his four businesses there. He likes when the region does well economically, but said the four major cities often find themselves competing for revenue. Benton County has made significant investments to draw people in, and if Fayetteville doesn’t step up its game, the tax base could shift, he said.

“When our neighbors to the north are able to take events from us that I know generate a lot of economic vitality, I am very much concerned,” Martin said. “I am concerned about that as a trend. I am concerned about what could be next.”

Dodie Baker, a Fayetteville resident, said she was all for Bikes and Blues moving to Rogers. The crowds on Dickson Street already get huge. When the motorcyclists come, it turns getting anywhere downtown into a nightmare, she said.

It makes sense for Rogers, with its two major motorcycle dealerships, to host the event instead, Baker said. The city has ample space and parking for the motorcyclists, she said.

“There really isn’t anything in Fayetteville for them anymore since Dickson gets so crowded,” Baker said.