Who is the Festival of Motorcycling and how did the organisation come about? The Festival of Motorcycling South Australia, rose from a desire to bring South Australia’s motorcycle clubs together and to present motorcycling to the community in a positive way by organising events for motorcyclists and the general public.
The group was formed after members of the Classic Owners Motorcycle Club Inc. reached out to other South Australian Motorcycle Clubs. They received a positive response from the BSA Owners Club of South Australia, Ducati Owners Club of South Australia, Norton Motorcycle Club of South Australia, Historic Motorcycle Racing Register of South Australia, Triumph Rider’s Club, Ulysses Club and the Veteran and Vintage Motorcycle Club of South Australia.
A committee came together at the Atujara Club rooms in Pennington and laid down some aims for future events. The first event was to be the "Festival of Motorcycling" an 8 day event consisting of 6 days of Club rides around the most picturesque roads that South Australia. Wrapping up with a two day display weekend in Port Adelaide's Historic Precinct.
Then COVID 19 struck! The committee decided rather than abandoning the event, it decided to pivot and to just stage the ride activities & rebranded the event to "Motorcycle Ride Week" this proved to be a great success.
In 2021 COVID was still ravaging the country and many fixtures were abandoned. On the back of the success of the 2020 event the Committee maintained the format as heavy restrictions were still in place. As we were unable to engage with the general public our fund raising efforts were heavily encumbered. The decision was made by the committee to add an evening event and the "Night of Champions" was conceived. The format was simple we would invite four renowned Champions in a variety of Motorcycling disciplines to come together with us in an informal interview & Q&A program.
The MC on the night was Jason O'Halloran who came down from Pt Pirie for the night. The venue the Adelaide Speedboat Club was generously sponsored by David & Ricky Clark of Symons & Clark Logistics. The night Proved to be a great success and the backbone of our fundraising efforts.
As is the case with SAHMRI they were actively involved on the night running a raffle with donated prices. All involved gave their services for free! After the conclusion of the Festival program FOMsa was able to present a cheque to SAHMRI for $4225.00 to be used to establish the FOMsa- SAHMRI PhD Medical Research Student Bursary Fund.
This bursary goes to an emerging Research student to fund lab time & equipment integral to their professional development. It is recognised by FOMsa that this is long term investment in the recipient's and the states preeminence in future medical research. The SAMHRI research fund, as previously mentioned, is the focus of future FOMsa fundraising efforts. We hope that with ongoing support from fellow motorcyclists and the community, FOMsa can go on to be a positive force for motorcycling in South Australia