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Bikers Going to South Dakota Rally BLOCKED at Tribal Land Checkpoints
'It's Just Madness': Bikers Throng South Dakota Town Despite Covid Threat
At least 100,000 expected for Sturgis rally in state’s Black Hills
Worker at local bar says crowd seems larger than usual
The Guardian UK, 8 AUG 2020.
At least 100,000 people are expected to attend the 10-day annual Sturgis motorcycle rally in South Dakota’s Black Hills from Friday, as opportunities for the local economy have overridden concerns it could become a coronavirus superspreading event.
This year is the 80th anniversary of the event that in normal years sees upward of 500,000 motorcycle enthusiasts descend on the small town of Sturgis and the surrounding area. The rally injects $800m into South Dakota’s economy.
Local authorities expected fewer people to attend this year, and before the event halved the number of vendors allowed to participate.
Yet on Friday, a worker at the event told the Guardian the crowd seemed larger than in previous years – and warned that Sturgis attendees were paying little heed to medical advice.
“I’ve not seen one single person wearing a mask,” said Jessica Christian, who is working at a bar at the sprawling event.
“It’s just pretty much the mentality that, ‘If I get it, I get it.’”
Christian, 29, said: “This is my third year, and it’s actually busier than previous years. People are basically treating it as a family vacation.”
The bar where Christian working has adopted safety protocols, she said, including hand sanitizer and distancing tables. She said it was a different story in other parts of town.
“In downtown Sturgis it’s just madness,” she said.
“People not socially distancing, everybody touching each other. It’ll be interesting to see how that turns out.”
The crowd at Sturgis will represent one of the biggest in the world since the coronavirus pandemic began. People are expected to pack concerts with at least 34 acts playing. Most rallies bring a sea of black leather, boots and bandannas into Sturgis, population 6,900 in normal times.
“The rally is going to stay the same in many respects,” said the Meade county sheriff, Rob Merwin. “It’s going to be a lot of people and a lot of motorcycles all over the place. People are tired of being penned up by this pandemic.“
Merwin said many local residents have voiced concerns about the public health impact the rally will have. South Dakota has fared better than most states – it ranks 38th in Covid deaths per capita, according to a Reuters tally – but cases have spiked in recent weeks as hotspots move into the midwest.
The sheriff’s office overlooks Sturgis’s Main Street and from Merwin’s vantage point, he saw few precautions taken as the town began to fill up on Thursday evening.
“I’m sitting here and I’m watching people walk up and down the street, watching people ride up and down the street. A few have masks – most don’t,” he said. “There’s not much we can do. Everybody is coming here with their eyes wide open. They know what they’re getting into.”
Over 60% of Sturgis residents who responded to a survey the city council mailed out in May said they wanted the rally canceled. But on 15 June the council voted to move ahead with the rally, though they canceled all city-sponsored events associated with it and included measures such as hand-sanitizing stations.
Merwin and others interviewed said the event is considered an annual headache by most residents, but one that must be stomached considering the money and jobs it brings to the region.
With the rally lasting over a week and people flocking to huge campsites in the Black Hills national forest and in nearby towns, trying to halt the event would have been fruitless, local officials said.
“It would have been just as irresponsible for us to not prepare for these people who were going to show up regardless of what we wanted,” city councilwoman Beka Zerbst said. “It’s just common sense to be prepared.”
Zerbst said that before the pandemic organizers were expecting upward of 800,000 people. She said it was anybody’s guess how many will actually show up, but local leaders were counting on at least 100,000 people.
In a videotaped address to city residents the day after the city council voted to move ahead with the rally, Mayor Mark Carstensen said throughout the pandemic, “the state of South Dakota has been the freedom state and the city of Sturgis has stayed true to that”.
Carstensen emphasized that public health could not be pitted against the economy and people’s ability to maintain livelihoods.
“It’s a situation where those can work together. It’s not easy,” the mayor said, “but we’re all in this together.”
2019 STURGIS MOTORCYCLE RALLY | BIKE WEEK SOUTH DAKOTA
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