Sturgis Draws Crowds
Main Street in Sturgis, S.D., was the place to be during the big rally held this year Aug. 9-15. Crowd estimates are sketchy, at best, but event organizers estimate the number of people attending the seven-day event was more than 500,000. That’s about the same as last year, but down from the 633,000 estimated attendance for the event in 2000. According to traffic counters operated by the South Dakota Department of Transportation, a total of 547,370 vehicles entered Sturgis during the rally, but some bikes enter Sturgis several times during the week. Participants spent more than $16 million and generated more than $1.1 million in sales taxes, according to event organizers and the state department of revenue. These incomplete sales tax revenues were up 5.5% over last year.
