Sturgis city leaders thought attendance at this year’s motorcycle rally might drop by half, but it doesn’t look like attendance fell nearly that much.
The rally ended Sunday. Traffic devices counted about 8 percent fewer vehicles in Sturgis through Friday. Arrests and citations ran close to last year’s numbers. Five people died in traffic accidents, compared to three last year.
The city will release its official attendance estimate in several weeks. That’s based on numerous factors. It includes traffic counts, the weight of garbage hauled to the landfill, and even numbers at Mount Rushmore. Last year’s attendance was 490,000.
City spokeswoman Christina Steele says attendance was probably down by only 10 or 12 percent, despite the pandemic.
“I think we saw a lot of people being very responsible for themselves," Steele said. "A lot of people had masks with them. They maybe didn’t wear them all the time, but they had them.
"We saw people looking into businesses before they went in and sometimes, if it was crowded, they wouldn’t go in. They would keep going. But really, for the most part, people seemed to be quite relaxed and just enjoying being out and having some fun.”
This Friday and next Monday and Tuesday, the city of Sturgis and Monument Health will test about 700 people for COVID-19.
That includes about 120 city employees. Almost 400 front-line workers will get tests, such as people who work in restaurants, gas stations and grocery stores. About 65 school district employees will get tested.
And about 130 asymptomatic local Sturgis residents also signed up to get tested.
