International Biker Fest, held each year in the resort town of Lignano Sabbiadoro, is the largest motorcycle rally in Italy and one of the biggest in all of Europe. 2024 marked the 38th annual edition of the event, making it one of the longest-running rallies as well.
Our friend and builder Roman Juriš decided to make the trip from his native home of Slovakia, bringing along his Yamaha XS400 “Roadster” that’s proved so popular on BikeBound and beyond.
Roman was only able to make a single day of the event, but since his focus was mainly on the customs that turned up at the festival, that was enough to see a good bit of what was on display. Below is his report from the show, with photographs from Roman himself as well as the show organizers. Enjoy!
Event Report from Biker Fest 2024
(Words by Roman Juriš)
In the past, I have visited several interesting motorcycle events, mainly in Germany, but also in France, but I have never been to Biker Fest in Italy. This year, I wrote down the date in my calendar and when the time came, I went to Lignano Sabbiadoro on Thursday, May 9, 2024. Due to lack of time, I could not travel by motorcycle. I loaded the Yamaha XS400 into the Ford van that served as a camper and booked a camping spot right in this beautiful resort.
The main part of the event took place in the “Luna Park” area and accompanying events took place in the surrounding vicinity. The entire program was only in Italian on the flyers, and since I knew I only had one day to stay — Friday — I didn’t even try to translate or study the program. My goal was customs and I devoted all my time to that.
I registered with the organizers as recently as Thursday evening because I entered the Yamaha in the Custom Bike Show (Italia) & AMD World Championship.
On Friday morning, I put the bike in a not big tent with the other contenders for the title. Personally, I expected many more motorcycles, but the number was not easy to determine, because many motorcycles were also directly in the stands of custom companies.
The announcement of the results was planned for Sunday 12/05/2024 at 1:00 PM. This was unusual for me as the results are usually announced on a Saturday evening so that the winners can properly celebrate and drink and leave the show on Sunday with a clear head. I already knew that I would not participate in the competition, because I had to travel home to Slovakia on Saturday morning.
The whole event was in the spirit of celebrating H-D. If a Muslim must go to Mecca, then an Italian with H-D blood must make a trip to Biker Fest. Thousands of fans of this American brand and culture met here. The Custom Bike Show was (at least until Friday night when I left Luna Park) just an affiliate event.
The main idea of the event was to enjoy the atmosphere, talk with friends, eat well, have a few beers and have fun in the evening with good rock music. Along the way, buy something at countless stalls. Everything was on offer, from head to toe. Stylish — of course American — hats, dresses, boots, jewelry. There were no stands with H-D pet accessories, as every true fan had already arrived with accessories mounted on their pet.
Italian coziness, cordiality and good mood reigned everywhere. It was all about the joy of life with a motorcycle. I asked Angelika from the organizational team for photos from the results announcement.
Custom Bike Show
More From the Show
Bike Gallery: Roman’s Shots
Follow Biker Fest 2024
Web: www.bikerfest.it
Instagram: @bikerfestint
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BikerFestInt/
