Due to New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu’s Stay At Home 2.0 orders running to May 31, the 97th Progressive Laconia Motorcycle Week has been pushed back from June to August 22-30, 2020. The decision was made by Laconia Motorcycle Week Association, in collaboration with the Laconia City Council.
Previously, the 97th Annual Loudon Classic at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was rescheduled to August 29. The road race is an integral part of the Laconia Motorcycle Week, as it traditionally ends the week of festivities. Other competitive events include flat track racing and hillclimb.
Laconia Motorcycle Week is promising that the August edition will have the same feel as June. “We’re working round the clock to maintain the look, feel and logistics of the rally by reaching out to vendors and event hosts in an effort to reschedule the signature events that make the world’s oldest motorcycle rally so popular, as evidenced by the millions of dollars it pumps into the state’s economy,” the Association said in a statement. “The rally traffic plan will stay the same, with Lakeside Avenue closed to motorcycles only, centerline parking, and serving as home to Rally Headquarters for the duration of the nine-day event.”
“We know these are unusual times,” acknowledged Laconia Motorcycle Week Association Deputy Director Jennifer Anderson, “and are doing everything possible to make this year’s rally the best it can be within the parameters of ever-changing health and safety guidelines. We’d like to thank local businesses and the city of Laconia and town of Meredith for their commitment to ensuring this historic spring event endures. In our 97-year history, this is certainly a first. But, as riders, circumstance has given us the opportunity to experience August in New Hampshire, when the state is in full bloom, and the warmth of summer is in the air.”
Laconia Motorcycle Week bills the event as “Laconia – where rallies were invented.” Laconia’s history as a destination for motorcyclists with a Gypsy Tour that congregated at Lake Winnipesaukee’s Weirs Beach in 1916. The 2020 Laconia Motorcycle Week follows in the tradition more than a century later.
