Bloomberg News
@Bloomberg-News·2.8M subscribers·40.1K videos
Sturgis Rally to Draw 700,000 Visitors to South Dakota Despite Delta Surge
Posted
August 9, 2021
Views
5,402
Likes
102
Comments
82
Engagement
August 9, 2021
5,402
102
82
3.41%
Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
Episode Timeline
Every episode in order around the one you’re watching — click any card and the page flips straight to it.
1:31Now PlayingThe Black Hills of South Dakota roared with motorcycles and crowds Friday as the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally kicked off, with mostly mask-less rallygoers packed shoulder-to-shoulder at bars and rock shows, despite a rise in COVID-19 cases in the state.
Organizers expect at least 700,000 people during the 10-day event that is a rendezvous for bikers, who connect over their love for motorcycles. For some, it's a once-in-a-lifetime goal to make it to Sturgis; others faithfully make the pilgrimage year after year.
Public health experts — and some locals — worry the rally will again play host to coronavirus infections, after hundreds of rallygoers were infected last year. Only about 46% of adults who live in the county that hosts Sturgis are fully vaccinated, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, compared with 60.6% nationwide.
Virus infections are on the rise in South Dakota after a steady decline through the spring and early summer. The Department of Health reported a 68% jump in virus infections last week, with the highly contagious delta variant spurring a larger share of those infections.
Last year's rally transformed Sturgis, usually a quiet community of under 7,000 residents, into a travel hub comparable to a major U.S. city. One analysis of anonymous cellphone data found that well over half of counties in the country were visited by someone who attended Sturgis.
A team of researchers from the Centers for Disease Control concluded that last year's rally ended up looking like a "superspreader event."
This year, the rally is expected to be even bigger. The city held an opening ceremony Friday for the 81st iteration of the event — something it skipped in 2020 in an attempt to tamp down the crowds.
The rally is known as a place where people let loose, strolling the streets in minimal attire and body painting.
On Thursday, one woman walked through downtown with a goat on a leash.
A man sat on a bench with a rifle as passersby smiled and nodded.
Health experts say big gatherings provide fertile ground to start a wave of infections.
That didn't seem to slow the Sturgis crowds.
"It's in the back of your mind, you think about it a little bit," said Aaron Harper.
The Nebraska resident has not received a vaccine yet, but said he intends to.
"But you've got to live your life and enjoy it and have fun still."
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Subscribe to our newest channel Quicktake Explained
Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world.
To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app.
Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake
Connect with us on…
Breaking News on YouTube
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.
