RED RIVER, N.M. (KRQE) – Red River celebrated it’s first Memorial Day weekend in decades without its annual motorcycle rally after rebranding the event in the wake of last year’s deadly gang shootout. Though the visitor numbers were lower than in years past, town leaders are touting the weekend as a success.
Story continues below
News: VIDEO: Deputies find dead 5-year-old during Silver City callout
Events: What’s happening around New Mexico May 24-30
Trending: City of Santa Fe unveils resolution to give homes to two controversial statues
Community: Albuquerque hosting its first-ever cricket tournament at Balloon Fiesta Park
The town of Red River started its new event called Mayfest in the Mountains this Memorial Day Weekend. Red River Mayor, Linda Calhoun, said the weekend started off slow on Friday but picked up on Saturday.
“We had people in the park doing fly fishing, and the rock-climbing wall. I talked to the food vendors in the park, and they were happy. I’ve talked to some of our local businesses and for the most part, everyone had a successful weekend,” said Mayor Calhoun.
The inaugural Mayfest marks the end of more than 40 years of Memorial Day weekend bike rallies in the town following a deadly biker gang shootout last year leaving three people dead.
According to the town, the new event is more family-friendly and veteran-focused. “I think people are happy with the direction we’re going and look forward to seeing what we do next year,” said Mayor Calhoun.
Historically, the weekend has brought more than 20,000 visitors. The mayor said unofficial numbers from this weekend look to be between 5,000 and 8,000. At least one business planned its own bike rally, to keep the tradition alive.
The mayor said there were no concerning incidents this weekend. She added there were fewer motorcycles in town this year and doesn’t believe any outlaw motorcycle gangs showed up. “We’ll probably try to encourage more of the veteran and law enforcement motorcycles to come because we don’t want to lose that sector of our guests,” said Mayor Calhoun.
Mayor Calhoun said there will be a meeting next week for the town, general public, and businesses to go over what went well during the weekend and see how to move forward.
