The Góis Moto Club started out of the creators’ love for motorcycles, but not as the organization of a large convention. It started as a TT Raid race organization, with the 31st edition of this race taking place last weekend. The main attraction, the biker festival, has been held for more than 30 years and according to José, the oldest member of this club, the number of participants in this event has gone from 150 friends to more than 25 thousand. When the festival takes place, the entire space surrounding the “headquarters” is full of tents and a stage for the concerts that take place. Most of the participants camp on the banks of the Ceira River, a river that runs through the village. Others can stay in the small accommodations in the village.
In conversation with two residents, they present positive and negative aspects of this activity. On the one hand, this festival helps to improve the town’s economy, namely areas such as restaurants and hotels, which are at a standstill the rest of the year. However, another aspect not considered favorable by some residents is the fact that the municipality does not have the capacity to accommodate the thousands of participants that the event attracts.
On an environmental level, the club’s management has increasingly invested in measures aimed at protecting the nature that surrounds them. One of the measures is the investment in ecological mats, which consist of mats measuring 2 meters by 1 meter that are placed under off-road cars when they are at “rest”, absorbing the highly harmful liquids that they lose. This meeting has greatly promoted tourism in Góis region, but its immense expansion may cause, in the long term, the unsustainability of the project.
