Orange County Chopper show headed here
Tourism officials are expected to announce today that popular motorcycle customizer Orange County Choppers will visit Spokane this summer as one of four stops on a national tour.
The show will be July 28-30 at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center, officials are expected to say at a 2 p.m. news conference at Northern Quest Casino.
Though nobody involved with the event would officially verify the information, several mentioned plans are already in the works. Several local media organizations were told of the news conference on Monday evening.
Orange County Choppers is a custom motorcycle workshop featured on the Discovery Channel reality series “American Chopper.” Paul Teutul Sr., Paul Teutul Jr. and Mikey Teutul all work in the shop and star in the show.
A similar event was held in Tempe, Ariz., last year and drew 55,000 people during one weekend, said Rod Keeling, president of the Downtown Tempe Community public business district.
“It had a real regional draw,” he said. “It brought a demographic of people that spent a lot of money and hung around for a long time.”
The show featured six blocks of motorcycles lined up on the street, he said. This year, Tempe will again host the crew during Memorial Day weekend, and the event will feature a bike-building demonstration on stage, several musical acts and Orange County Chopper’s extensive custom bike collection.
Spokane is lucky to be considered for the show, said Harry Sladich, president of the Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“There are a lot of cities that don’t even get the opportunity to talk to these guys,” he said.
Sladich announced last month that Spokane was in the running to host the show.
A spokeswoman at Orange County Choppers would not confirm the event, saying that the company had to wait until contracts were signed.
Spokane Fair and Expo Center director Dolly Hughes said that if Spokane hosts the show, the fairgrounds would be ready.
A good weekend at the annual interstate fair receives slightly more visitors than the expected number at the Orange County Choppers event, she said.
“It will be no different than a weekend at the fair,” she said. “If we get it, we’ll be real excited about it.”
Tickets to the Tempe event ran about $30 for general admission, with VIP passes reaching $100. Prices, schedules and times will be announced after the news conference when contracts are signed, Sladich said.