27 March 2024

BikeFest appears on the horizon

Paul Browne is looking forward to flying – well riding – south for the summer, migrating towards Ireland’s biggest celebration of biking.

Yes, Ireland BikeFest is once more on the horizon and it looks again to offer an unmissable line-up of beautiful bikes, rousing entertainment and, best of all, absolutely stunning roads to ride.

 

The annual celebration of all things two-wheeled is, once again, returning to Killarney this coming June Bank Holiday weekend as Bike Fest again hits the Kerry town.

This will be the 16^th anniversary of the get-together. Over this time he festival has grown from being a one-off Harley-Davidson affair to the biggest bike event in the country.

While there is so much to be done in the ‘Bike Village’, a decent sized campus built around the Gleneagle hotel and the INEC venue in the town, it’s the roads that I go for.

Highway heaven

If you’ve yet to attend Bike Fest and take a ride out over Molls Gap or cover Slea Head on two wheels, then you’re in for quite the treat!

While this part of the world is a ‘tall tourer’ heaven, I was there last year on my MT-10 and just found it so enjoyable to ride.

Expect epic views, brilliant roads and little cafes in the middle of nowhere. It all makes for a a great few days in the country.

Village people

Back at ‘base’ meanwhile the bike village continues to be one of the big surprises of the gig.

The organisers have managed to attract a lot of vendors to Killarney for the weekend.

At last year’s BikeFest I met several old friends from my Mondello trackday years as well as some perfectly charming young people on the Principal Insurance stand.

It is, indeed, a great place to catch up.

Family favourites

I was also able to visit with my family and our two little monsters had a great time.

The onsite hotel, the Gleneagle, has an attended pool and the centre of Killarney is only a gentle kilometre away.

The international flavour is there as well with a lot of European riders making the trip over.

Our cousins from the US also attend in large numbers.

 

That’s entertainment

While there are food vendors, clothing sales, motorcycle dealers and service suppliers to the two wheeled world in attendance, BikeFest’s entertainment is also second to none!

There are three stages, one in the Harley Bar, another in the INEC and an outdoor stage in the village itself. That last one has its own restaurant and bar.

With plenty of hotels, B&B accommodation and even camping in the neighbourhood, getting somewhere to stay is easy.

For me, however, BikeFest is always going to be the perfect base point for those epic Kerry roads. That and the fact that the whole thing is free.

See you in the Kingdom – and the first pint is on you!

Ireland BikeFest opens on Friday May 31st and runs through Sunday June 2nd. For more details of what’s on, where to stay and how to get there, visit Irelandbikefest.com.

 

The best motorcycle insurance quote? Put our two-wheel team to the test on 0818 945 950.

 

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