ABR Festival 2023

[AlanHolt]

Not sure where to ask this, but i'm looking for a weekend ticket with the VIP night if anyone has one they can't use?

Hi Alan, I've just spoken to Abeer - our customer service and ticket guru - and we have just had a few Thursday VIP night tickets returned from sponsors and partners.

Weekend tickets are still on sale at https://www.abrfestival.com/tickets/

Contact Abeer on abeer@adventurize.co.uk asap and she'll sort you out. But be quick, they will not be available for long.

Thanks Al. I've emailed her this morning.

[Alun]

In just under 2 weeks time we'll be opening the gates of the magnificent Ragley Hall to welcome 12,500 guests to the ABR Festival 2023.

There's so much going on, with over 140 trade stands, over 25 manufacturers, the most test ride bikes at any event in the UK, 3 riding trails providing over 30 miles of off road riding, expert riding displays (Chris Birch/Cyril Depres etc.) and tuition (including BMW, Honda, Yamaha, Ducati off road riding schools) plus a huge number of quality caterers and 8 bars (one of which is over 40m long).

On the social side there are free head and shoulder massages, morning yoga by the lake, 3 cinemas (free pop corn in one), free tea and coffee from 6am to 10am and a full talks and music schedule including a 100 voice choir taking place on four different stages. To plan your days we've now set the times for bands and speakers and you can check it out here https://www.abrfestival.com/news/abr-fe ... schedules/

Not that long ago the ABR Rally was a bunch of 40 or 50 mates sleeping in a muddy field just the other side of Stratford and I remember the year our single catering van decided not to turn up and Bryn and myself cooked burgers and sausages for everyone who attended - and a big part of me still misses those days. But how times have changed, some of the numbers for the 2023 Festival are staggering....

In 2023, the ABR Festival is the largest motorcycle festival in the UK
ABR 2023 is the largest adventure bike festival in the world
There are approx 2000 crew working on the 2023 festival
Over 100 bar staff
Over 100 security guards plus 14 night time dog patrols
Visitors are arriving from Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Peru, USA, South Africa and just about every European country

The ABR Festival at Ragley is a ground up build where we have to provide the full Infrastructure, including water and electricity, for a pop up town of 12,500
And to give you an idea of what that means we are spending just over £100,000 on toilets and shower facilities alone - and that's more per head than any other festival in the UK.

If you are coming along I look forward to welcoming you to the festival and if you're still undecided there are a limited number of tickets still available but it's going to sell out over the next few days. https://www.abrfestival.com/tickets/

As I like to say, think Glastonbury with motorcycles and posh toilets and you've got it.

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[Alun]

If you are coming along to ABR 2023 here’s a housekeeping update on the WiFi service at Ragley Hall and info to help you decide ‘should I take mountains of cash’.

There’s no disputing the WiFi at Ragley was an issue in 2022. The problem was a double whammy with the Ragley infrastructure and service supplier not robust enough plus the local EE mast was out of service on the weekend of the 2022 festival.

In 2023 we’ve invested in a major outside contractor to provide a commercial level of service (independent of Ragley) to all retailers, food and bar vendors through fibre and boosters with a seamless backup via commercial grade satellite systems should the fibre go down. Plus, should we have an attack of biblical proportions on the WiFi infrastructure there will be cash dispensing machines outside the ABR info office.

Failing that we're reverting to a barter system

[Magnusson]

The festival was great. Thanks to everyone for the huge effort in making it this successful.
Focusing on the good stuff.
Great selection of foods and drinks and bands. The unbooked band was really good. You need them for next year.
The manufacturer section had good selection. The rides were awesome.
Great variety of guest speakers. My unexpected favourites was Graham Fields.

If you want my complaints send me a message.

[Alexhoc]

My first time at the ABR Festival, and you can guarantee it won't be the last. What a weekend!

As you'll have read before, music was great, food was great, beer selection was great, trails were awesome, and the facilities were some of the best I've seen at outdoor events. I got to ride loads of bikes, listened to some great talks and met some interesting people.

The only thing I didn't like is that with so much good stuff available, I didn't manage to do a third of what I'd marked as a "must do" in the programme (but if all the good stuff was staggered, everyone would be in the same places at the same times, so the current format is very good). e.g. I really fancied hearing what John McGuinness had to say, but I also really wanted to see the demos, but in the end I decided I should get a seat near the front for the pub quiz.

[Barcelona Pat]

Just arrived back in Barcelona after the ride home from the festival weekend. Shame I couldn't hang around on the Sunday, perhaps next year (tickets booked aleady), but great to meet up with so many mates in one place, with good food, great music, amazing coffee (off road bean's flat white never ceases to raise a smile), a good shower and free morning coffee next to the super loos. Bikes and rides unparalleled at any event I know of.

As I'm sitting here reflecting on a sweaty ride out of the Pyranese earlier today, a good over 2 day run through France couldn't match the weekend temperatures at Ragly Hall. So great weather too.

My sincere thanks to all at ABR for the incredible effort undertaken, by quite a small team, to bring this about. It really has become a landmark event in the diary. Can't wait until the next one (well, I can, but you know what I mean).

Saludos a todos!

Pat

[Alun]

A huge thanks to all that came and made the ABR such a fantastic event and the largest motorcycle festival in the UK in 2023. There's a big part of me that still misses the days of 50 mates in a farmers field but to see so many people enjoying a weekend in the magnificent grounds of Ragley means we must be doing something right and worthwhile and long may that continue.

Here's the showreal for the 2023 Festival.

[davsato]

ABR Festival was great, grown a bit from the 1st Boil Rally in Kirby Stephen all those years ago!