SARASOTA – It’s the return of Thunder By the Bay and with it some added measures to ensure the three day music and motorcycle festival is a safe and fun one.
The sound of classic rock & roll tunes and the roar of hundreds of motorcycle enthusiast will fill the air in Sarasota this weekend for Thunder by the Bay.
Being one of the first major large-scale events to take place on the Suncoast, Executive Director for Suncoast Charities for Children Lucy Nicandri says added measures have been put in place to ensure CDC guidelines are being followed.
“Masks are encouraged, we have social distancing signage,” said Nicandri. “We’ve increased our sanitation efforts, we’ve really tried to follow all the CDC guidelines because we want all of our guests to be safe.”
Last year’s festival was one of the last events to take place on the Suncoast before the pandemic hit. Nicandri says this year’s festival will include an array of new events not seen in the 23 years since it’s inception.
“Some of the new things are going to be – we have a custom bike builder display with 50 of the best bike builders from around the state of Florida, and around the country actually,” said Nicandri. “It’s called Choppertown so we want people to come out and see that.”
Jared Weems, owner of Weems Motor Sports, is part of Choppertown Live, which has a vast collection of vintage and rare motorcycles each with their own unique story and history that you don’t need to be a biker to appreciate.
“This motorcycle is based off of a painting by motorcycle painter David Mann, he painted this painting in July of 1983,” said Weems. I recreated it and we’re actually raffling this motorcycle off to build tiny homes for kids who’ve aged out of the foster care system.”
Though the festival is one big party for all in attendance the goal is to raise enough funds for the Suncoast Charities for Children. The money raised is distributed to six individual charities across the Suncoast, which provide services for children, teens and adults with special needs.
Nicandri says she expects this year’s Thunder by the Bay to have a greater percentage of attendees from Florida than previous years, which often draw out-of-state visitors.
Helping boost the local economy that suffered tremendously when the nation entered a lock down almost one year ago.
If you plan on attending and rock to classic tunes all while raising money for charity.
SATURDAY: 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; $5, 12 and under free
SUNDAY: Noon-5 p.m.; $5, 12 and under free
