This news is so hot we haven’t even got the proper poster back from the printers yet, hence the lash-up opposite. I know you won’t want to miss this one though, so we’re running with what we’ve got.

In January at the FEMA finance meeting I sat with my FEMA colleagues on the finance committee racking my brains for a better way to finance FEMA but also to help our fellow Riders’ Rights workers in Europe to boost their organisations. In the past we have tried to boost FEMA finances by fund raising off the back of what is essentially a political event – the Euro Demo. This has three major drawbacks however, the first being that Euro-demo’s can result in financial disaster. This happened in Paris in ’94 and Bonn last year. When we are as careful with FEMA’s money – YOUR MONEY – as we are, it is barmy to bet everything on one big event coming off every other year.

We never know just how many will turn up at a Euro-demo and of those, how many will camp. Paris got 25,000 on the demo but nowhere near as many on the site. Catering for a maximum attendance means massive spending on site amenities such as toilets. If we get too many people on then the facilities and food traders can’t cope. If we don’t get enough then the traders feel cheated and we go broke. We try to be fair to rally-goers and traders alike, and we try to spend your money wisely, but the fact that attendance is such an unknown quantity makes planing very difficult.

The second problem is that political issues do not necessarily coincide with an event which automatically happens every other year as Euro-demos have since 1988. I do not believe in misleading people. We cannot and should not ‘create’ a reason to demonstrate. A Euro-demo is a major political event and should remain so. Euro-demos can only retain their political impact if they are used sparingly and only when there is an absolute and massive justification for them.

The third problem with the Euro-demo format is that we are pretty much limited as to the venue. Europe is a beautiful place but we always end up having events near big boring ugly cities for the sole reason that they are inhabited by the big ugly boring bureaucracies that we so detest.

The main considerations in my mind as we sat around that table last January were;

Before anyone goes ballistic, this is not the end of the Euro-demo. When the political situation demands it, if useless Euroucrats dream up any more horrors like the 100 BHP limit or compulsory leg-potectors, we will put a hundred thousand bikers into Brussels or Strasbourg. What we will not do is to run a demo just for the sake of it. Fair enough?

These considerations led me to the idea for the FEMA Festival of Motorcycling, an idea which FEMA has accepted. MAG UK has been granted the honour of organising this first ever international festival in 1999 and East Yorkshire MAG has agreed to do the actual work involved in running the rally on MAG UK’s behalf.

After this year, 1999, this rally will probably not be held in the UK for another 20 years as it will move around Europe, being held in turn by each FEMA member organisation.

As you can see from the poster, the price will include a historic rally badge. These will be a strictly limited issue for attendees only.

The attendance limit has been fixed deliberately low at 500. We aim to make this a rally for riders’ rights activists, which means MAG members and bona-fide guests only, including those who are members of other FEMA organisations such as the BMF. Fixing a low limit enables us to plan thoroughly and to budget strictly, thus assuring a financial success.

MAG members, along with members of other European Riders’ Rights organisations, will have priority for tickets over non-member guests. To be fair to the other FEMA organisations however we cannot give MAG members priority over the members of other FEMA organisations. With some 400,000 active members now in FEMA demand for tickets from the continent is likely to be heavy. YOU SHOULD THEREFORE APPLY FOR YOUR TICKETS IMMEDIATELY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT!

As I said above, my concern was to do something to boost FEMA funds without much risk. FEMA will therefore benefit from a 25% profit share from the Festival. Whilst this might not be a great deal this year with a small event such as we plan, the yearly donation should grow as the event becomes larger each year. Again, as I said above, my concern also was to provide our fellow activists in Europe with a fund-raising opportunity. In addition to the 25% donation to FEMA then, a further 25% of the net profit will be made available as an interest free loan to one of the other European organisations to run next year’s event. The remaining 50% of the net profit will go to MAG UK funds where, as you can guess, it is desperately needed. This formula will apply to all future Festivals so FEMA can look forward to a 25% profit share this year and every year.

The full FEMA committee will award next year’s and subsequent events to the national organisation which, in its view, presents the most realistic business plan. If, say, Luxembourg hosts next year’s rally they will have an interest free loan available to cover the setting up expenses. Starting from the same low base number they should be guaranteed a financial success as at least 500 MAG UK members will attend virtually any continental event as the Strasbourg, Brussels, Paris and Bonn events have demonstrated.

So that’s it folks, the First FEMA Festival. East Yorkshire MAG have kindly offered to run the event for MAG UK in a beautiful setting deep in the heart of the Yorkshire Wolds. Breaking from the Euro-demo concept means that in every future year we can look forward to an international event in some equally picturesque part of the continent, no more boring cities. From now on MAG UK and FEMA is into mass-member continental touring big-time. Wherever the event is held in the future though, don’t miss this one, because remember –

See you there!

Neil F. Liversidge, MAG National Chairman, Member 23660