Big names The Chip begin on Friday, Aug. 4

A week of the premier musical events in North America

Aug. 4 bands at the Buffalo Chip

7:00 PM - 7:05 PM National Anthem & Opening Toast - Sturgis Rally Kickoff Party Wolfman Jack Stage

7:05 PM - 8:00 PM GOODFIRE Wolfman Jack Stage

8:00 PM - 8:15 PM Miss Buffalo Chip Beauty Pageant Wolfman Jack Stage

8:30 PM - 9:15 PM TIM MONTANA Wolfman Jack Stage

9:00 PM - 10:30 PM Movie - Two Lane Blacktop Camp Zero

9:05 PM - 9:15 PM Miss Buffalo Chip Beauty Pageant Wolfman Jack Stage

10:30 PM - 11:59 PM ZZ TOP Wolfman Jack Stage

Mr. Cool Guy

Sturgis Pscyched

Arrivals began more than a week ago. Now building massively.

2023 expected to be humongously huge

Live Video Feed Sturgis

All of them !!!

A brief break from Sturgis

Hot weather no more...into Deadwood

"The Deadwood Coach" 1924 film with Tom Mix

Up into the Mountains

Normally hot Sturgis expected to be mostly cool this year. The first day of the rally in the 80s. Then highs mostly in the 70s. Some rain early on.

The usual migration to Deadwood

Just up the road in the Black Hills, Deadwood and Lead are at high enough elevation for cooler temperatures, even in a hot spell.

• This year bikers will be heading up just for a change of pace. Gambling in Deadwood. Old mining town in Lead.
• And there will be more leather and jackets this year. Cool mountain weather.

The 1924 movie with George Bancroft, Hank Bell, Frank Coffyn, Jane Keckley, Lucien Littlefield, Doris May, and Tom Mix, and of course Tony the Wonder Horse

A bit of attitudinal adjustment

Preparing for 2023

Now less than two weeks away

Bikers already rolling in... TheEditor

Sturgis 12-days out

Vendors have been busy for weeks

Sturgis expected to be big this year. There is a big uptick in travel all over North America.

On one of the less traveled paths at the rally.

Vendor setup

Much work going on in downtown sturgis where vendors create a mini-city each August.

• Local stores rented out just for the rally. A health food store, for instance, might be emptied and turned into a leather shop.
• Main Street will be blocked off to any traffic except motorcycles. As usual. A few bicycles creep in, too. But no lumbering cars.
• Motorcycle parking along the curb and double rowed down the middle of the street, for as far as you can see.

When hundreds of thousands of biker arrive

Sturgis Police Dept. runs in emergency mode for 10-days

Surge in Police Presence come early August

• Sturgis Police expands drastically during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

• Town explodes from 7,000 population to somewhere between 200,000 and 400,000. Maybe more.

"It's a difference of night and day."
says Geody VanDewater, chief of the Sturgis Police Department

The outskirts are also flooded with South Dakota Highway Patrol troopers who come in from all over the state.

And a motorcycle gang fight broke out one year on Main Street, and that entire area was immediately swamped with lots of armed law enforcement.

SD Public Radio has a story on this

One of the famous 59-second biker videos

Massive consumption of biker life...

Sun, Motorcycles, Sturgis

Another of the famous 59-second biker videos

Venturing into the land of motorcycles where only the bold dare venture...

Sturgis Battle of the Bands

First time for this event

• When: Saturday, June 3rd 2023

• Time: 2 pm to 8 pm (may change depending on number of entries)

• Location: Harley-Davidson Rally Point (corner of Main Street & Harley-Davidson Way), Downtown Sturgis, SD

• FREE

It's being held along with the 3rd Annual Sturgis Art Festival located in downtown Sturgis.

Being advertised as a "family-friendly event"

Organized by the Sturgis Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau

Apparently lots of interest

They have closed off the band registration for this year as they have 12 bands entered. This appears to be the ones coming:

• Pandemic
• Mud the Cosmonaut
• Wicked Six
• The Downboys
• Goodfire
• SevenStones
• Rocky Fall
• Peach Street Revival
• In Spaces
• Reaction Jacket
• Black Hills Soul
• Modern Folklore