European Bike Week is an annual motorcycle rally held at

Lake Faak Lake Faak (german: Faaker See; sl, Baško jezero) is a lake in the Austrian state of Carinthia. With an area of approximately , it is the state's fifth-largest lake. Geography The lake is located southeast of Villach in the Drava Valley, below ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Attendance in 2018 was 200,000 people, the largest rally in Europe and the third largest worldwide. The first motorcycle meeting at Lake Faak took place in 1998 and was a

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...

anniversary event at this time. The meeting was organized by Daniela Gabriel, who worked for Harley-Davidson Europe management. The first meeting took place with 15,000 participants. The next year, the event was renamed European Bike Week. In the next few years, it grew from a small event to now the biggest event the rocker- and biker scene of Europe and the third largest event worldwide. Also, the event has been increased in the meantime to ten days. Events of all kinds happen in organized "villages", as well as those privately offered around Lake Faak. This includes a ride-in bike show since 2002 by Custom Chrome Europe with a

stunt show A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

. Concerts take place during the week. In 2012 Kiss cover band Kiss Forever played, the Rammstein cover band Stahlzeit, as well as

10cc 10cc are an English rock band formed in Stockport in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – who had written and recorded together since 1968. The group featured t ...

. A focal point of the event is the Harley village, where campsites are located as well as the official Harley-Davidson dealership. The outlaw biker scene has its own place at the event. An annual highlight is the parade of up to 25,000 riders take a common exit with very large media presence around Lake Faak. In 2012 motorbikes worth half a million euros were stolen.

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.europeanbikeweek.com Motorcycle rallies in Austria Festivals in Austria Harley-Davidson