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The Thunder by the Bay Sarasota Motorcycle Festival Kick Starts the New Year!
January 2 - 4, 2009 marks the 11th Anniversary of the popular Thunder by the Bay Sarasota Motorcycle Festival. Held annually in the Downtown Sarasota area on the first Friday – Sunday of January, this event starts off the Sun Coast’s New Year of festivals and fun. Last year's event, the 10th anniversary of the festival, attracted upwards of 20,000 fun and friendly revelers on the streets of downtown Sarasota. It was a great way to begin the new year under sunny skies and near 80 degree temperatures. Also on hand in 2008 to help make the day more festive were nationally renowned bike builders Eddie Trotta, the Detroit Brothers, Kate O'Shea and Brad Ruel. Plus there were appearances by "The Romanator," featured on TV's A&E Network show, "Knievel's Wild Ride" and the Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch" Captains Jonathon Hillstrand and Keith Colburn.
This festival for bikers of all ages, from all over, starts the first Friday evening of January with a “Born to Be Wild” Kick-off Party at a popular local restaurant. Saturday it’s “Triple ‘B’ Bike Fest Day” with a BBQ, Bands and Blue Jeans party at the Sarasota Bradenton Convention Center. There are plenty of indoor vendors, barbecue and live entertainment. The three day festival concludes on Sunday with both a Bike Show and a $1000 top prize Poker Run that begins at the Sarasota Bradenton Convention Center at 9 a.m. with all bikers welcome. There’s a $15 entry fee/donation. Proceeds benefit The Florida Center for Child and Family Development.
Plus there are food and drink vendors, bike builders and custom painters, clothes vendors and all kinds of motorcycle and biker-lifestyle related gear and clothes, plus live entertainment on several bandstands featuring a variety of music styles from rock, to country to..well, you get the idea. It’s a fun time, whether you are a “biker” or just a fan, to walk around and “owww” and “ahhh” at the bikes on display. 
This Festival in 2008 and 2007 earned and donated over $190,000 and over 10 years it has donated just over $700,000 to needy children and their families. That's a long way from the first Thunder By The Bay Sarasota Motorcycle festival in 1998 when there were only 100 riders and they only raised $100. The festival has grown through the years and it’s now a large group of good and big hearted bikers who bring “Thunder” to Sarasota and its surrounding areas to kick-start each New Year. We hope to see you at the next one in sunny Sarasota, Florida!
Return from Thunder by the Bay Sarasota Motorcycle Festival to Sarasota Calendar of Events.
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