Biketoberfest 2026: New Booth Setup, Wind, Rain and Cookie-Thieving Ants

October 15-18, 2026

I did another year with my AMSOIL booth at the 34th Annual Biketoberfest Motorcycle Parts Swap Meet, hosted by Jam On Productions. There were plenty of familiar booths and faces, both from previous years and other shows I’ve attended. As always, the event was well organized.

This year, I ended up with a spot under a tree, which helped keep things a little cooler. Having access to power also meant I could run the air conditioner inside the van when needed, especially at night when it helped cut the humidity and made sleeping easier.

There was just one problem: I kept wondering what strange creature was attacking the van during the night. It turned out to be acorns falling from the tree!

A New Booth Layout

This was my first show trying a new setup based on feedback from another event. In previous years, you may have seen pictures of my tables lined up along the front of my display. This time, I moved them to the inside walls instead.

I’d once had someone complain that I was in the shade while they were out in the sun. I wasn’t even sure whether I’d have room for both tables with the new arrangement, but it worked out better than I expected. This is likely to become my standard layout moving forward, and it may help when it rains because I can close up the sides.

I may even look into portable shelving for future shows. That could let me display more products while keeping additional inventory accessible. That’s a project for another day, though. First, I need to figure out a better way to display my signage now that I no longer have a table across the front to drape the AMSOIL banner over.

The new arrangement also let me open the side screen, turning it into more of a wall that could still breathe. At night, I left the screens open around the van rather than opening only the front as I had in the past.

Thursday and Friday: Getting Settled

The first day was slower, as expected, while vendors arrived and set up. Friday, like Thursday, brought warmer, muggy weather and a fair number of people walking through and bikes lining up near the main entrance. Most of my sales took place then.

The stunt show ran several times each day, and I managed to catch the end of one performance. It was good to see some of the action rather than spend the entire event at my booth.

Saturday: Rain, Wind and a Vendor Dinner

Saturday was the day I think many of us hoped would bring a bigger turnout. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans. Rain threatened throughout the day, with showers coming and going. I imagine some Biketoberfest visitors decided a dry spot with a cold beer sounded better than walking around a swap meet in the rain. But some still came out, and I appreciate everyone who did!

The upside was that temperatures cooled off. Combined with the wind, it actually became chilly enough early in the evening that I wished I’d packed something warmer than shorts and a T-shirt.

Our host had dinner planned for that evening, giving the vendors who stayed on the grounds a chance to get together for food, drinks and conversation.

Later that night, though, the wind picked up considerably. I watched the awning start to bounce and had flashbacks to other shows earlier this year when strong gusts rolled through. At the Moultrie Swap Meet, I was outside trying to hold the awning down while rain flooded the ground around me and soaked me in the process.

My phone’s forecast showed gusts around 30–35 mph, with steady winds of 12–20 mph.

I pulled in the front legs of the awning to reduce the strain, but several times during the night I felt the van move from a gust. I could hear the wind outside and see the awning’s ceiling lighting bouncing around. With the occasional acorn strike, I kept thinking something out there had snapped! It wasn’t the most relaxing night of camping.

Sunday Morning: The Ants Strike Back

Sunday morning brought a completely different problem. I started hearing strange noises inside the van, almost like plastic crinkling. When I turned on the light, I discovered that ants had found their way inside and taken over the plastic container with Publix cookies, which was sitting on top of the fridge.

Now, how do these guys climb up a tire, where they had built a new nest, cross the side molding, get through a door, walk across the floor, climb the cooler’s insulation, reach the top of the fridge, crawl inside a plastic container and discover a COOKIE worth telling all their friends about?

My first hour of the day was spent battling ants!

That put the wind worries out of my mind for a while. The forecast still called for gusts around 30 mph, but Mother Nature seemed to give us a break, with conditions easing to more of a breeze.

She’d already done some damage overnight. The pop-up tent across from me looked crushed, and I learned that it had blown over into the neighboring vendor’s space during the night, damaging some parts. Another vendor told me that two other pop-up tents had been lost as well.

I don’t know whether my new booth arrangement provided any extra support, but everything held up. I came away with a little more confidence in the setup.

Maybe the ants were Mother Nature’s way of getting to me after the wind failed to do the job. Things could have been worse!

Wrapping Up Biketoberfest 2026

Around noon, another drizzle moved through. It was just enough to make me wonder whether more rain was on the way, so I decided to call it a day and pack up.

Several other vendors had already packed and left. I don’t know whether the weather overnight drove them out or whether they were simply heading to the next stop on their vendor circuit.

Throughout the event, I saw people walking around with various parts they’d found, so at least many of the people who came looking for something left with a successful find.

For me, it was a fair show. I’ve had more people stop by in previous years, and I’ve set up several new AMSOIL Preferred Customer accounts right at the booth. This time, I handed out plenty of information and sold some products, but it wasn’t one of my stronger years.

Then again, I’ve had shows that were worse.

If my schedule allows, I plan to be back next year. Some vendors have told me the spring show during Bike Week is better and runs for a full week. So far, my schedule hasn’t lined up to let me try it. Maybe next year!

For now, I’m hoping next fall brings fewer ants, less wind, and fewer acorns. Heck, if I have to put up with one of them, the acorns are okay. Chip ‘n Dale are welcome to keep tossing them at me!