{"id":38763,"date":"2022-08-23T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-23T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/motorcycle-rally-returns-labor-day-weekend-to-durango-ignacio\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:46:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:46:20","slug":"motorcycle-rally-returns-labor-day-weekend-to-durango-ignacio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/motorcycle-rally-returns-labor-day-weekend-to-durango-ignacio\/","title":{"rendered":"Motorcycle rally returns Labor Day weekend to Durango, Ignacio"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=15d3a453-8c13-58c5-abb4-6052b34b6a85&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1235\" alt=\"Last year, the Four Corners Motorcycle Rally had an estimated 7,500 participants. This year, organizers are predicting anywhere from 8,000 to 10,000 participants. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Last year, the Four Corners Motorcycle Rally had an estimated 7,500 participants. This year, organizers are predicting anywhere from 8,000 to 10,000 participants. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span><span class=\"credit\">cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>The Four Corners Motorcycle Rally will return this Labor Day weekend for its 29th year with new events and a return to camping at the Sky Ute Fairgrounds in Ignacio.<\/p>\n<p>The rally will feature new events such as The Brawl, Ives Brothers Wall of Death and American Motorcycle Association flat track races at the La Plata County Fairgrounds.<\/p>\n<p>The Wall of Death shows will take place at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s kind of a big cylinder wooden thing where these guys ride motorcycles,\u201d said rally coordinator and Harley-Davidson Dealership owner Trevor Bird. \u201cThey\u2019re up vertical on the wall riding around in a circle as people stand above it, looking down and they grab dollar bills and tips out of people\u2019s hands.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video wp-block-embed-youtube naviga-video-embed\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lYzhS3BkTNs\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Bird said The Brawl is the largest stunt riding competition in the country. Fifteen of the best stunt riders are invited to compete for cash prizes. The event will take place from noon to 3 p.m. Friday at Sky Ute Casino.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday night, the rally will welcome the AMA flat track races.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt brings in some of the top flat track talent from across the country where these guys are competing for an AMA No. 1 plate, which is like a big deal in the motorcycle racing community,\u201d Bird said.<\/p>\n<p>The three-day rally is loved by some and loathed by others. It provides a financial shot in the arm near the end of the tourism season for some businesses, especially hotels and restaurants. But the rumbling bikes raise the decibel level in town, all but ruining the ambience for some people strolling the shops or enjoying al fresco dining on Durango\u2019s Main Avenue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of commerce happens in both Ignacio and Bayfield in addition to Durango and some of the other communities that they ride to such as Silverton, Telluride and Ridgway,\u201d Durango Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jack Llewellyn said.<\/p>\n<p>But he said the economic impact has decreased over the past decade. In 2013, the rally brought in about 20,000 participants to the Four Corners.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s slowed down especially with the pandemic,\u201d Llewellyn said. \u201cBut I think it\u2019s starting to reboot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While some people may not like the rally because of the noise, Llewellyn said Durango businesses typically benefit. He said the rally provides funding for good causes and is more family-oriented compared with other rallies such as Sturgis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you\u2019re going to go downtown during the parade, it\u2019s going to be loud \u2013 wear hearing protection, plan ahead,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The Four Corners Motorcycle Rally will host a block party Friday night at the corner of 10th Street and Main Avenue. The block party will feature performances from Kirk James and The Rudy Boy Experiment. Between performers, there will be a rally hall of fame ceremony where event founders, Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell and Mike Lovato, will speak.<\/p>\n<p>Two after parties are scheduled for the weekend and include the Dixxon After Party from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday at El Rancho and the Kruesi Originals and Chopper Kings After Party from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday at the Garage.<\/p>\n<p>The rally will also coordinate with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe for the first time in Bird\u2019s five-year tenure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe rally originally started at the Sky Ute Fairgrounds, and we\u2019re really honored to work with the Southern Ute tribe to be able to allow camping, tent camping and RV camping for the event,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Those involved with the rally have already raised money for multiple nonprofits, including $10,000 for Building Homes for Heroes.<\/p>\n<p>To benefit nonprofits, Bird said he had sponsors forgo writing checks to the rally and instead had them sent directly to the organizations the rally is benefiting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo Jack Daniels, for example, offered a $10,000 sponsorship, which in return we asked, \u2018Why don\u2019t you guys just write that check directly to building homes for heroes?\u2019\u201d Bird said.<\/p>\n<p>Proceeds raised through the rally will go to other nonprofits. The rally worked with Durango Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4031 on a benefit ride Friday morning in which proceeds will provide funding for the Ignacio Space Camp Scholarship.<\/p>\n<p>Bird said the fund allows children from the Southern Ute tribe to attend space camp. The rally has already raised $5,000 \u2013 enough money to send two children to space camp.<\/p>\n<p>Bird is excited about the new changes and additions this year, but he still finds the community aspect of the event his favorite part. He said Sunday is his favorite day because of the downtown motorcycle parade, which begins at 11 a.m. in Durango.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, the rally was estimated to have around 7,500 participants. This year, Bird is predicting anywhere from 8,000 to 10,000 participants.<\/p>\n<p>He said the rally is under a new ownership structure, which helped with the addition of some of the newer events. More specifically, Bird said the addition of Chip Lile, owner of El Rancho and executive director of Snowdown, has been beneficial.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChip joined our leadership team at the end of last year,\u201d Bird said. \u201cWith Chip\u2019s experience in the local community and experience with Snowdown along with his expertise in community relations, he has just been a real joy to work with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em id=\"emphasis-844b7083b8e477ae3f85c837134443ed\"><a href=\"mailto:tbrown@durangoherald.com\">tbrown@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three-day event will feature stunt riders, annual parade and noise<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16715,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2057,28,1235,475,4172,629],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-38763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-four-corners-motorcycle-rally","tag-headlines","tag-ignacio","tag-la-plata-county-colorado","tag-sky-ute-casino","tag-southern-ute-indian-tribe"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38763"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38763\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84121,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38763\/revisions\/84121"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38763"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=38763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}