Bulldog Bash

Bulldog Bash
Genre Motorcycle rally & Rock music
Dates Annually in August
Location(s) Shakespeare County Raceway, Stratford-upon-Avon, England
Years active 1987 – present
Founded by Hells Angels
Website

The Bulldog Bash is an annual motorcycle rally, with a reported attendance of 50,000 people in 2007. It takes place over a weekend in mid-August, at the Shakespeare County Raceway, which is situated outside Stratford-upon-Avon in England.

History

The event started as a small gathering organised by the Hells Angels motorcycle club for bikers. Since 1987, the event has grown to one of the largest motorcycle festivals in Europe, with a record 50,000 people reported to have attended in 2007.

It is believed that the popularity of the event is due to the organisers' philosophy of hosting a festival that meets all the criteria of their own 'perfect party', organised by bikers, for bikers.

The festival has been hosted at the Shakespeare County Raceway in the village of Long Marston, Warwickshire, England since 1987, and always takes place in mid August. Since its inception, it has followed largely the same format (though expanded for larger crowds and more recently included bigger name bands): providing entertainment aimed at the motorcycle riding fraternity, including live rock music, beer tents, motorcycle racing, drag racing & stunt riding demonstrations. Adult entertainment traditionally features high on the bill, including Wet T-shirt contest, erotic dance shows and topless bike wash.

The event currently runs over four days, gates opening on Thursday, and running through Friday and Saturday and wrapping up on Sunday.

In April 2013 it was announced that the 2013 event had been cancelled.[1] The event returned in 2014[2] and is advertised for 2015.

Comparable events in the USA, on a much larger scale are Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and Daytona Beach Bike Week.

Security and crime

Despite the general public's association of violence and crime with the Hells Angels, the Bulldog Bash has a consistent record of causing the Warwickshire Police little trouble, compared to other events of this scale.

There are no police patrolling the site (though they have a small base just off site), no personal searches conducted by police - the Hells Angels maintain security inside the festival grounds themselves.

Inspector Dave Patterson from the Warwickshire Police is quoted to have said about the 2006 event: "There was just four crimes reported on site and only three arrests during the four day event. Although traffic to and from the Long Marston site was greater than normal, the traffic plan worked well."[3]

The four crimes recorded on the Police Media Portal were all theft related.

References

  1. ↑ "Bulldog Bash biker festival in Long Marston cancelled". BBC News (BBC). 9 April 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  2. ↑ "Bulldog Bash biker festival in Long Marston returns". BBC News (BBC). 6 August 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  3. ↑ Houlder, Di."Bulldog Bash - Police Overview" The Police Media Portal

Further reading