Hitting the brakes: Atlantic Beach cancels bike week citing coronavirus concerns
Atlantic Beach officials have canceled the town’s annual bike event as the coronavirus pandemic continues to pummel Horry County.
Atlantic Beach Bikefest, also known as Black Bike Week, will no longer go on. The event, which generally attracts thousands to the Grand Strand over Memorial Day weekend, was originally postponed to Labor Day weekend due to COVID-19. Officials said this was the best decision for the health and safety of residents, tourists and bikers.
Atlantic Beach Town Council met on Monday afternoon to discuss the event and voted unanimously to cancel it. It was also decided to extend the town’s State of Emergency order to Sept. 14.
“I think we all agree as a council that large gatherings is not a good idea for anybody these days,” Mayor Jake Evans said. “We’re just trying to do the right thing.”
At the same meeting, officials also passed an ordinance requiring face masks be worn in all retail, personal service and retail establishments. All restaurants, retail, government and personal service businesses must require their employees to wear face coverings at all times while having face to face interaction with the public.
While a business can’t force patrons to wear masks, they must place signage at all entrance informing customers of the requirements, according to the ordinance.
Exemptions include: any person who is unable to safely wear a face covering due to age, an underlying health condition, or is unable to remove the face covering without assistance of others, and any person whose religious beliefs prevents them from wearing a face covering.
Violators will be guilty of a civil infraction, punishable by fine of no more than $25. A second offense will warrant an up to $100 fine. Each day of a continuing violating will be considered a separate and distinct offense.
“I think it’s known worldwide that the best thing people can be doing is wearing masks, so that’s what we’re doing,” Evans said.
Atlantic Beach is the latest Horry County community to enact a mask mandate, with Conway also voting in favor of one Monday night. Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Georgetown and Horry County had previously implemented face mask mandates as COVID-19 cases spike in local areas.
As of Monday, Horry County has 4,715 confirmed cornavirus cases since the first one was announced in mid-March, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. There have been 55 coronavirus-related deaths in Horry County.
In early June, DHEC designated Horry County a coronavirus hot spot, with numbers increasing by triple-digits daily since. Just last week, health officials announced 1,525 new positive cases of the coronavirus in Horry County.
COVID-19 cases in South Carolina are at 46,247, with 819 virus deaths, according to DHEC.
Harley-Davidson Myrtle Beach spring rally
While Black Bike Week is canceled, a scaled-down Harley-Davidson Myrtle Beach spring rally is being held next week (July 13-19) largely on the South Strand after being rescheduled from May. Some bikers may arrive this weekend.
Horry County traditionally issues more than 50 vendor permits for the bike week but has issued just six as of Monday afternoon, though more may be processed this week, according to county spokesperson Kelly Moore.
Suck Bang Blow in Murrells Inlet will host vendors and has live entertainment scheduled including country singer Colt Ford.
“We’re expecting a good crowd,” said SBB events coordinator Bill Barber. “We’re not anticipating it would be the size of a spring rally, not just because of Covid but because this is generally the time [bikers] spend time with their families, and it will be hot as Hades”
Beaver Bar, an annual bike week host just over the Horry County line in Georgetown County, will host approximately 25 vendors, including four food vendors, and plans to hold all festivities outside because of the coronavirus threat, owner Leslye Beaver said.
She said the business has a 4,000-square-foot open-air pavilion, outdoor bar and beer tubs, and will have bands five nights as well as karaoke.
“Sometimes people’s health is more important. Let’s do it, but let’s just be safer,” Beaver said. “Hopefully it will be okay.”
The Myrtle Beach Harley-Davidson dealership is hosting its own biker event the following weekend, along with the affiliated Harley Shop at the Beach dealership in North Myrtle Beach.
The three-day Summer Biker Bash from July 24-26 at both locations will feature live music each day, BMX stunt riders, food, a beer garden, biker games, and a tent with new, used and demo motorcycles.
The dealerships did not request vendor permits for the July 13-19 dates and will not be hosting events specifically for the rescheduled spring rally.
“We chose to put all of our efforts into an enhanced and enlarged fall rally for our riders and our visitors,” said Sheri Gibson, marketing manager for Myrtle Beach Harley-Davidson and its affiliated businesses, referring to the 20-year area fall rally that is scheduled for Sept. 28-Oct. 4.
“We always do a dealer event in July,” Gibson continued. “This date has been in our event calendar for seven or eight months. This is the date we had planned and we just continued on with it.”
The Sun News Reporter Alan Blondin contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 6, 2020 at 6:23 PM.
