STURGIS, S.D. – The uncertainty of COVID-19 will mean a toned down 80th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally come August.
With an 8-1 vote, the Sturgis City Council on Monday night chose an option to welcome in bikers for this year’s event – but, other than the usual motorcycle parking on Main Street, there will be few events.
Sturgis City Manager Daniel Ainslie says in an effort to try and avoid large crowds on Main Street, the city will have no photo towers, no opening ceremony, no entertainment or events at Rally Point and no B-1 flyover.
“There will be several changes and I think all of them are designated towards trying to ensure there’s not large gatherings of people on property the city maintains. That means no opening ceremony, not having any contests or bands at rally point, having additonal sanitation and stations so people can frequently wash their hands.”
Ainslie says vendors will have a set of guidelines and protocols they will have to follow to protect their employees and customers as well.
Ainslie says this has been a tough decision for the council, and because they couldn’t close down the city, they felt this was their best option.
“I think the message behind this is that although this is the 80th anniversary, at the same point, we are going through a pandemic, and there should not be a mass number of people crowded into one location. So as much as possible, this council had to come up with a way to encourage that. We won’t do any more advertising either. We are just trying to make this as responsible as possible because the reality is there are going to be people coming to our community and we want to protect our residents as much as possible and people who work here as possible.”
Council members spoke about the number of emails and phone calls they have received about the decision. They agreed having a normal rally that ignores the current state of affairs just wasn’t safe nor feasible.
Ainslie says if a health advisory comes down from the state department of health, governor’s office or health care providers before the rally starts, the mayor could still declare an emergency.
He says the mayor would be able to “cease any portion of the City of Sturgis Motorcycle Rally preparations, causing an undue health burden and take alternate actions if he received written documentation from local health officials, the South Dakota Department of Health, the governor’s office, the CDC or other agencies.”
Ainslie says they will also keep their good deeds program going during the rally so those with underlying health issues or the elderly will not have to leave their homes. He says the city is also working on setting up mass testing for residents after the rally. Ainslie says the city has been working closely with Monument Health – who own hospitals in Rapid City, Sturgis and Spearfish on the rally issue.
