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Back in 1995, Harley-Davidson selected three locations in Europe to celebrate their 95th anniversary world tour: Barcelona, Spain; Hamburg, Germany; and Faak am See, Austria. Following Harley’s 95th celebrations, each of these locations quickly evolved into popular annual motorcycle events. Hamburg Harley Days and the Barcelona events both draw huge crowds each year, but Faak am See grabbed the crown for the European Bike Week annual celebration, and now, every September bikers from all across Europe and many other parts of the world rush to this motorcycle hotspot to enjoy Europe’s largest biker bash of its kind. The official name of the event is European Bike Week, but in the European biker world it’s commonly referred to as “FAAK.”

The weeklong event kicked off on September 7th, and despite heavy rain and cooler weather conditions, more than 100,000 people joined in for the start of the festivities. By Friday the rain stopped, the skies turned blue, the sun began to shine, and the streets of southern Austria quickly became saturated with thousands of motorcycles.

The official location of the event is the village of Faak, which is situated on Lake Faak (Faak am See), and locally known as “Harley Village.” Harley Village is where 28 artists and live bands performed, and entertained the huge crowds throughout the day and into the wee hours of the morning. It’s a biker event that never sleeps. Approximately 20 official Harley-Davidson dealerships from Austria, Germany, Italy, and the Baltic countries set up shop and provided official H-D clothing and parts, and they displayed some of their new motorcycles. Harley-Davidson also provided a variety of new 2011 motorcycles for test rides.

Every surrounding village and city within a radius of 50 kilometers is positively affected by this event. Officially sponsored motorcycle tours to the neighboring countries of Italy and Slovenia has been a big part of the event since the beginning, and each year more and more bikers take part in these beautiful scenic rides. Many bikers don’t like officially guided tours and prefer to do their own thing, so they form their own groups, or ride solo across the nearby border of Italy just have a real pizza and enjoy a warm cappuccino. Many bikers also ride to Slovenia to experience and enjoy the local culture, while others take to the high grounds and ride the Alps. Nothing is more breathtaking than riding the Alps on your Harley.

Stay tuned to this website for more news on European Bike Week.