Hollister Independence Motorcycle Rally to return
UPDATED 10/22/19 10:36 p.m.: Hollister bikers are looking forward to the motorcycle Independence Rally, after hearing news that the city council approved a deal with a promoter.
“Gilroy has the garlic festival. Hollister has the biker rally. It’s a good thing. It’s where it all started,” said motorcycle rider Jimmy Pena.
The rally will now be held the week of July 4, 2020 after the event was off for the past couple years. The event was canceled in 2018 after the promoter lost a sponsor and didn’t have the resources to move forward. And the council rejected proposals after that.
Unofficial rallies were held but the turnout wasn’t the same.
“This years rally it was a little, you know,…it was not as, what I would say, abundant with people,” Pena said.
In 2020, bikers from all over the world will once again ride in for the rally in the city considered the birthplace of the American rider.
The council was able to bring back the rally back based on a narrow 3-2 vote Monday, with council members Marty Richman and Carol Lenoir opposed.
“I just couldn’t get over the liability to the residents if we have an accident or somebody dies. That was my big concern,” Lenoir told KION.
There are also residents who are concerned the city is losing more money than it brings in with the event.
But Mayor Ignacio Velazquez said the city doesn’t actually put on the event, a promoter does. The promoter will pay the city $130,000 for barricades and security. Velazquez said the city also makes money from vendor fees and sales tax revenues.
Velazquez has been pushing for the rally since it left and finally had the votes to make it happen.
“The reality is It’s a good event. It brings out great people. We have a good time. The city does not lose any money in this. And again, it brings people from around the world to enjoy our community,” he said.
The city committed to a 5-year deal with the promoter so the event is here to stay for a while.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Hollister’s motorcycle Independence Rally will return in 2020 after a vote by the city council Monday night.
The council voted 3-2 in favor of bringing back the on-again-off-again tradition, and agreed to move forward on a five-year deal with promoter Roadshows Inc.
The motorcycle event takes place the week of the Fourth of July, and the promoter will pay the city $130,000 each year.
This will be the first official city-sanctioned independence rally since 2017. It was canceled in 2018 after the promoter lost a sponsor and didn’t have the resources to move forward.
This is a developing story.
KION 2019
