The Moto Clube de Faro’s 34th International Motorcycle Festival starts on Thursday 16th July and runs until Sunday 19th with the usual farewell parade in Faro itself.
The big party at Vale das Almas near Faro airport will bring tens of thousands of foreign and national bikers, with a particular emphasis this year on bikers from neighboring Spain.
For entertainment, the Moto Clube de Faro has as the main attraction ‘70s-‘80s group The Stranglers along with Blind Zero, a Portuguese band from Oporto led by Miguel Guedes.
The Stranglers' hits include No More Heroes, Golden Brown and Get a Grip on Yourself, which earned the British band lasting fame as one of the punk rock era’s most memorable sounds.
There’s also local group Sam Alone, The Gravediggers, the hard rock band Hot Stuff, British tribute bands Guns 2 Roses and Red Hot Chilli Pipers plus the Spanish band Los Suaves.
This year's festival was close to being cancelled but finally the official announcement was made that it would go ahead "on behalf of the best interests of motorcycling and of the region, despite all the difficulties."
Hopefully this year the Moto Clube de Faro’s negotiations with the forces of law and order to minimise what the club management considers ‘repressive control’ will be upheld with the police concentrating on sensible policing rather than the harassment of bikers noted in previous years.
