2014 York Motorcycle Festival

An unusually warm autumn day did not deter crowds as the 2014 York Motorcycle Festival took over the main street of town!

More than 1500 motorcycles lined the streets and captured the attention of visitors as they walked the strip of the Festival – and that was just the beginning! A full day of entertainment, activities and new products on display made the 2014 York Motorcycle Festival one to remember.

Festival organiser Peter Woods from Premiere Events aid he was thrilled with the 2014 Festival, sayingthat it was great to see such a huge turn out – despite the heat!

“The Festival is becoming a permanent event on the motorcycle calendar, and is a great way to bring visitors into York. This is the third year we have put the event on and it just keeps getting better,” he said.

“We are grateful to have had the support of EventsCorp this year, and with their help we were able to put on more attractions and activities for people to enjoy. We are also thankful to the Shire of York for all their support in putting on the Festival.”

“For the first time this year we opened the Festival with a street concert on Saturday night, which featured Perth band Boom Bap Pow. This turned out to be an even bigger attraction than we had thought, with around 500 people out on the street enjoying the music.”

“The main Festival began on Sunday morning, and was officially opened by the Hon Martin Aldridge MLC who brought his family out to the Festival, and we were grateful that he was able to attend,” Peter said.

“We were also pleased to welcome Andrew Kiely who had spent the weekend walking from Guildford to York in while wheeling a cart behind him, in order to raise awareness of heritage issues. Andrew arrived at the festival on Sunday morning and received a huge welcome from visitors!”

Peter said it was great to see so many local people and local businesses getting involved in the Festival. Feedback from visitors was all positive, with many commenting on what a great event the Motorcycle Festival was for the town of York; and with this positivity is one of the driving forces behind plans to grow the Festival into a weekend-long event in coming years.  

Peter Woods said that this year it was evident that the York Motorcycle Festival is truly being embraced by the motorcycle industry.

“The Festival is a trade show as well as a family festival, and this year we had more exhibitors than ever before, with 30 exhibitors displaying their products and services at the Festival.”

“The Festival is becoming more recognised by the industry. This year we had dealers displaying Harley Davidson, Yamaha, BMW, Triumph, Kawasaki, Honda and Can-Am Spyder bikes. We also had custom bikes on display from Mean Machines; as well as a display of new Indian motorcycles.”

“The support of these big name brands helps secure the York Motorcycle Festival as a recognised event on the motorcycle calendar,” Peter said.

The Festival was a full day of non-stop action, activity and attractions for the whole family! Visitors to the Festival were thrilled with the special guest performers, which included stunt rider Dave McKenna, musician The Badpiper, and trials/freestyle stunt riders Alex and Lewis Nolan.

Dave McKenna is recognised as one of Australia’s best street bike stunt riders, and was at the Festival for his first ever WA appearance, thanks to sponsor Yamaha. Dave wowed the crowds with his stunts show, which was something you had to see to believe!

The freestyle stunt riders Alex and Lewis Nolan entertained crowds with their backflips and jumps; and one of the biggest attractions of the day was The Badpiper performing live on stage, complete with his leather kilt and flaming bagpipes!

The Festival truly was fun for the whole family. More than 80 kids participated in the quad bike rides, taking a ride around the track. The bouncy castle provided free fun for the little ones, and plenty of families were seen stopping at the lolly displays to stock up on sweets!

The Show & Shine display was again held in the York Town Hall and had almost 30 bikes on display. Winners were judged on the day and trophies were awarded by Show & Shine sponsors Motorcycle Panel and Paint.  

The Festival was again held to raise funds for the Wheels for Hope charity. Wheels for Hope is part of the Motor Trades Association of WA, and is an organisation with a primary focus to assist WA families with disabilities with suitable. Wheels for Hope have a fleet of vehicles which they loan to eligible families. Wheels for Hope retain ownership of the vehicle and cover the ongoing costs to insure, license, service and maintain the fleet – the only cost to the family is fuel.

A special charity ride was held on Sunday morning, and more than 100 bikes travelled from Midland to York, arriving in town just in time for the Festival. Wheels for Hope raised more than $2000 from the event, and are already beginning to make plans for another charity ride next year.

Other not-for-profit organisations benefited from the Festival too. Exhibitor Steven Kirk was at the Festival selling DVD’s documenting his motorbike travels from Perth Scotland to Perth Western Australia, with funds going towards WA charity Youth Focus.

Also at the Festival Anna Grechishkena who is taking a two-year ride around the world, covering all continents and including 50 countries, as part of the “I have a dream” mission which raises money and awareness for orphanages, ages homes and hospitals in the areas she travels to.

Other exhibitors such as Bikers against Child Abuse and WA Women Rider’s Association were at the Festival to raise awareness of their organisations and the works they do in the community.  

The York Motorcycle Festival will be held again in 2015, and will be bigger and better than ever! Organisers will consider running the event in early May next year, and will look at building on the Saturday night concert.

More Show information can be found at www.yorkmotorcyclefestival.com.au