Shiny Chrome and Big Beards descend on Faro

We’ve heard lots about the Moto Clube Faro and their annual Motorcycle meeting in Faro, but we’ve never managed to get there yet! The main event is hosted in an open arena area on the outskirts Faro, complete with camping, live music and events – but more about that later!

The thought of 1,000s of bikers and bikes descending on Faro this weekend, however, sounded like too good a photo opportunity to miss! So Dave headed over there yesterday to have a look round and meet some of the bikers, and also to see how it affects Faro.

The event is organised and run by the Moto Clube Faro, and there are lots of side events, exhibitions and attractions to be found in and around Faro town centre as well.

Dave was particularly interested in the exhibition of old bikes set up in the marina area:

It was free to explore inside too:

And had a fabulous collection of bikes to enjoy – some much older than others:

The most amazing feature however was the magnificent metal statue parked outside the tent – how cool is this!

The detail on it was incredible:

Parked all round the side streets and the squares were row after row of shiny bikes of all shapes and sizes – they had their own parking spaces allocated for them!

The range of bikes was most impressive – from the formidable:

To the tiny:

With just about everything in-between – including lots of Harley Davidsons:

It was lovely to take time to meet some of the participants, many of whom had travelled many miles to attend the event – including this biker from Germany who was proud to be a ‘veteran’ of the event:

And this Portuguese man who was reluctant to be photographed but happy for Dave to photograph the advert for his hairdressing business on the back of his jacket – no problem sir!

It’s not all men with beards though – there are plenty of young female bikers enjoying their weekend in Faro too:

And there are plenty of bands and musicians warming up for the main event later in the evening too – which sadly was way past Dave’s bedtime!

Alongside the bikes are the usual market stalls and weekend events in Faro – everything seemed to be seamless and extremely well- natured. The local restaurants were all full with bikers – the eateries all had banners outside welcoming the bikers to dine and drink in the local area.

The main event is actually in an open area arena near the airport, where many of the bikers were camping, and enjoying beer tents, food, live music, tattooing and a whole range of other bike events and demonstrations. Tickets for all four nights including camping was a very reasonable 45 Euros, and the club had even set up a free minibus service to allow people to travel around free – although from the local area and the Algarve in general over the last few days – most people were riding their bikes!