FAYETTEVILLE -- Many hospitality businesses in Northwest Arkansas prepared last week as if the Bikes, Blues & BBQ motorcycle rally was going on as planned.
That's because some bikers showed up for the event even though it was canceled again this year because of the pandemic.
This year's rally, originally planned for Wednesday through Saturday, joined the long list of canceled or postponed fundraising events.
The rally touts itself as the world's largest charitable motorcycle rally, drawing an estimated 300,000 people annually, about 170,000 of whom officials estimate come from out of town.
The rally's board also canceled the event last year because of the pandemic. Until last month, it was scheduled to go ahead this year. However, the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ultimately pulled the permits allowing the rally to put its main stage on the campus's east parking lot of Baum-Walker Stadium.
Administrators at Washington Regional Medical Center had written letters to city and university officials expressing concern about the hospital's ability to handle an influx of trauma patients associated with the rally while also dealing with covid-19 patients.
The rally has raised more than $3 million for local nonprofit groups in its 20 years, according to the festival website. Canceling the event over the past two years has put a dent in charities' budgets in the region.
Life Styles, a nonprofit in Fayetteville that provides services to adults with disabilities, has received donations from the rally for several years. John Newman, the organization's executive director, said the money usually goes toward Special Olympics and activities programs for clients.
Those programs have been scaled back over the past year and half because of the pandemic, with much of the revenue needed to support them waning, he said.
Life Styles usually gets about $300,000 in donations and grants per year, but during the pandemic, it's been more like $150,000, Newman said. Other funding sources from federal, state and local governments have stepped up to help the organization's overall operation, he said.
Missing the donation from Bikes, Blues & BBQ -- a few thousand dollars each year -- hasn't had a big impact on the organization, Newman said, but pairing that missed donation with several others has prompted cutbacks in program expenditures.
"If it was a normal year, and we weren't able to get donations or have fundraisers but we were still providing all the programs and services, that would be more detrimental," Newman said.
As for businesses in the area, many of Fayetteville's hotels likely had 90% occupancy or were booked up through the weekend, said Molly Rawn, chief executive officer of the city's tourism bureau, Experience Fayetteville. The numbers this year were comparable to years past when the rally was in full swing, she said.
There are about 2,300 hotel rooms in Fayetteville. Rawn said the bureau didn't see a dramatic uptick in cancellations once news came out that the rally was canceled.
R.J. Austin, manager and bartender at Grub's Bar & Grille on West Avenue near Dickson Street, said the restaurant expected fewer bikers this year, but scheduled as many staffers to work as it could anyway. The spot is popular for football-game viewing, and restaurant managers figured it would be a busy weekend considering people would arrive to watch the Razorbacks play Texas A&M.
"As far as business goes, we'll still be all right with the crowds coming," Austin said. "But I still think we're taking a pretty big hit by losing the Bikes, Blues & BBQ event. I think that goes for everybody down here on Dickson."
Bars and businesses in Eureka Springs still held several events and rallies during the week. The official barbecue event for Bikes, Blues & BBQ went on in Rogers even though the festival didn't. Rogers also held its Bikes on the Bricks event downtown. Pig Trail Harley-Davidson in Rogers hosted the Rally Off Exit 86, an event not officially associated with the festival, but typically taking place on the same days.
Rogers also had some concerts that took place at the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion and the LPGA's Walmart Northwest Arkansas Championship last week.
"Any influx of visitors is so important, not just in Rogers, but all of Northwest Arkansas, to support our hospitality industry, which is still trying to make its way back out of this pandemic," said J.R. Shaw, executive director of Visit Rogers, the city's tourism bureau.
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Economic impact
A 2014 study from the University of Arkansas Center for Business and Economic Research found rally attendees from outside Northwest Arkansas spend $402 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.
Source: UA Center for Business and Economic Research