The Sturgis North organization says it will return to Salmon Arm for its second year and will be expanded from a five-day event to eight days.
In a press release issued Friday evening, the organization says the event will run from July 15-22, 2012 and will operate entirely on the Neskonlith Indian Band site on 50th Ave. NW in Gleneden. This is the same site where a portion of the festival ran last year.
In an post-event interview, CEO Ray Sasseville told the Observer he envisioned the longer event with Salmon Arm being the base for travel to other Shuswap and Okanagan locations as a bigger draw for bikers, who want to spend warm days riding the roads of the region.
He also noted there was plenty of space at the Neskonlith site to accommodate all the events, rather than trying to spread it out over the two separate venues.
“The Neskonlith Indian Band has recieved a favourable response from the Salmon Arm band members to proceed with the 2012 Sturgis North Second Annual motorcycle event,” states the unsigned release.
The Salmon Arm Fairgrounds will not be used by the organization in 2012. Festival events scheduled for that site were poorly attended and did not draw the “family” crowd that had been hoped.
The group says they will be “engaging other communities for events during the festival” and will be making those announcements later on. Sicamous, for example, hosted a well-attended burnout event.
“There will (be) some changes made based on the feedback from our first year! We want to personally thank our loyal Sturgis Northers who made this such a great experience and want you to know that we have heard the feedback from our attendees and want to build a festival that you will enjoy and return back to for years to come,” states the release.
