All rev’ed up with no place to go: Coronavirus postpones Myrtle Beach area bikefest
Atlantic Beach Bikefest will come to a screeching halt as the coronavirus continues to spread throughout Horry County.
The annual event, also known as Black Bike Week, is now postponed to Labor Day weekend. Each year, thousands of bikers spend their Memorial Day weekend partying and riding along the Grand Strand. Bikefest was originally scheduled for May 22-25.
Atlantic Beach Town Council met Monday afternoon to discuss the event and voted unanimously to postpone it. Councilman Lenearl Evans said they’ll continue to monitor the virus when September comes around and determine if the event should still go on.
The decision was made soon after S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster issued his “go to work or stay at home” order.
Just three weeks after Horry County reported its first confirmed cases of coronavirus, the number has grown to 76 as of Monday afternoon. South Carolina has reported 2,232 positive coronavirus cases and 48 deaths, including six in Horry County.
Similar measures were taken last week when it was announced the Myrtle Beach Harley-Davidson spring really that was scheduled to take place on the Grand Strand May 8-17 has been postponed and will be combined with the fall Harley rally in October.
Myrtle Beach Harley-Davidson owner Phil Schoonover posted on Facebook last week that the rally is being postponed because of the uncertainty created by the coronavirus outbreak.
The two rallies will be combined for Oct. 5-11. “We intend to combine the 2020 Myrtle Beach Spring and Fall Rallies into one,” Schoonover posted.
“It’s just the way things are going to be, I guess,” said Sonny Copeland of Sonny Productions, which owns Myrtle Beach Bike Week LLC.
This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 6:35 PM.
