Motorcycle Week rescheduled to late August

LACONIA — Motorcycle Week has been postponed until August, following a vote by the City Council Monday.

The council voted unanimously against holding the event during its traditional mid-June dates and, in a separate vote, scheduled it for Aug. 22 to 30.

The votes came after about 45 minutes of discussion and debate which included comments from the head of the organization that promotes the nine-day event, and an owner of the MS Mount Washington cruise ship who said moving the event to the fourth week in August would seriously hurt business.

Charlie St. Clair, the executive director of the Laconia Motorcycle Week Association, urged the council to approve the August dates as a contingency. He said the association would decide by Thursday whether to postpone the event.

But councilors said it would be irresponsible to allow the event, which attracts tens of thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts to the Lakes Region in June, to go ahead while the state is still in the throes of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We shouldn’t be inviting tens of thousands of people here at this time,” Ward 5 Councilor Bob Hamel said.

“Let’s accept reality for what it is,” Ward 2 Councilor David Bownes said, referring to the uncertainty about the ability to hold large-scale events this summer due to the likelihood that social distancing restrictions could continue in some form for weeks or even months.

St. Clair conceded Tuesday the council’s vote superseded the need for the association to take a vote. “That’s pretty much moot now,” he said.

The association will now start working on logistics and messaging associated with the rescheduling of the event, St. Clair said. He said the organization had already notified 30,000 people by email of the change. In addition, he said a notice of the change of dates would be sent out to those who are on the email distribution lists for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, which is currently scheduled for Aug. 7 to 16.

St. Clair told the council that the association would re-evaluate the situation in another three months to see if holding the rally in August would be prudent.

“If things haven’t changed by August then we will be back again to push it out further, into September,” he said.

Jim Morash said holding the rally in either August or September would have a negative impact on the business of Mount Washington Cruises.

In addition to the 1,250-passenger flagship excursion vessel, the company also offers cruises around Lake Winnipesaukee on two smaller boats, the Sophie C. and the Doris E.

He said he was particularly concerned if the August Motorcycle Week had to be scrubbed and then was rescheduled to September.

He said the crowds of motorcyclists and traffic congestion in the Weirs Beach area during Motorcycle Week drive business away. He said some cruises and wedding parties that had been scheduled for the fourth week of August would now be in doubt.

The company has already canceled all its May cruises because of the COVID-19 crisis, and Morash said it would be “lucky to open the season at the end of June.”

St. Clair said arrangements could be made to facilitate the public’s access to the Mount Washington while Motorcycle Week is taking place.

Ward 6 Councilor Tony Felch said 80 percent of the businesses in the Weirs Beach area were in favor of the August proposal.

St. Clair called the Aug. 22-30 period “a traditionally slow week” around the area.

But Morash said it was the third-busiest week for the Mount Washington.

“A few have not been thrilled,” St. Clair said about the the August dates. “But whatever we do, someone will not be happy.”