Over 40,000 people attend BMAD 2014

BIKERS from all over the country descended on Paignton Green at the weekend for the award-winning BMAD bike and music festival.John Clewer of BMAD said: "The sun shone and the weather was fantastic, drawing visitors from far and wide, many of whom chose to visit the festival as their annual pilgrimage to the South West. In fact the organisers believe that the furthest distance anyone travelled was by a couple of guys who drove down from Aberdeen especially to see what was going on.

On the Saturday we had between 2,000 to 2,500 bikes through the entrance gates, which was just a fantastic way for us to celebrate ten years. A while back we did have a run of poor weather but the last two years have really made up for it and a great turn out has meant we beat last years total of £15,500 and raised an incedible £16,079 for our various supported charities.”This increasingly popular event draws in a vast number of visitors to the bay, making it one of the largest such events in the South West, a fact recognised by the tourism industry last year, when they awarded the bronze awards to the event at both the Torbay and Devon Tourism awards. It goes a long way to filling the hotels and guest houses in the Paignton area. One can only guess how much money it must generate for the local economy