After we during 2022. organized several successful photo meetings for Croatian female bikers, which gathered around 120 female bikers from all over Croatia, from 2023. we decided on a completely new format for this event. The photo meeting will no longer be held several times a year and in different locations, but will become a traditional one that will always be held at the same time and in the same place.
Although we had several potential locations and on this occasion we would like to thank everyone who recognized this as an attractive event, we still decided on a completely different location. From next year, the photo meeting for women motorcyclists will be held on the last weekend of May on the island of Rab! Specifically, next year it will be from May 26. – 28.5. and the main event is on Saturday, May 27.
Moto Trip Croatia is an association based on Rab, so due to various organizational possibilities, it was logical to bring this event to the beautiful Rab. We believe that event participants who will be delighted by the beauty of Rab, and the island of Rab as a tourist destination, will “profit” with this.
The official name of the new/old event is MTC FELIX ARBA.
MTC stands for Moto Trip Croatia and Felix Arba is the old historical name for Rab.
WHAT IS CHANGING WITH THE NEW FORMAT?
One of the special features of this event is that in the new format it becomes INTERNATIONAL, so female bikers from abroad will also participate in it. In addition, although the center of attention is on women, everyone can come to this event; male escort for female bikers, their friends. All other guests can come, regardless of whether they are related to motorcycles or not, because this event will be a real tourist attraction. This will not be a classic motorcycle meeting because we are not a motorcycle club, and it will not take place in a private area. This is a public event that, in addition to drawing the public’s attention to women motorcyclists and the prejudices they face, is also what is stated in the description and the employees of the Moto Trip Croatia association, which is the promotion of cultural, historical and natural sights of Croatia. Thus, as part of the program, female participants will have a tour of the old city center of the city of Rab, and with the expert guidance of tourist guides, they will get to know the history and culture of Rab.
This event will require mandatory registration of all participants, which will be done online, and when filling out the online form, participants will be able to register their arrival, i.e. the exact number of people coming and in what capacity (participant, guest, etc.)
Guests arriving independently will also be able to register via an online form, and this registration will provide them with some benefits. You will find out exactly what it is about in the rest of this post.
PROGRAM AND EVENTS
In order to make this event as attractive and informative as possible for the participants, in cooperation with the Tourist Boards of Rab and Lopar, we tried to prepare a rich program.
The gathering will begin in Varoš, the town square of St. Kristofor located at the very beginning of the Rab waterfront and at the foot of the walls of the old town. After entering and parking in the square, motorcyclists will register at the point that will be set up there, and after registration they will receive a gift package that will contain a shock package from the Rab Tourist Board, coupons for discounts in the restaurant, a ticket for a free boat trip and a T-shirt with the event logo.
After registration, joint photography and filming will follow, and after that, all participants will go on a tour of the old city center and Rab’s cultural and historical sights. In this tour, among other things, he will visit the premises of the Rab archers’ association, the historical units from Rab, and then the Rab cake house, where he will be able to personally try his hand at making this widely known delicacy.
After this interesting tourist tour, the participants return to the square and after that there is a large and attractive parade around the island of Rab with several photo spots. The parade will be accompanied by police officers on motorcycles at all times to ensure smooth movement around the island through intersections and roundabouts, and to prevent the column from splitting up.
From the town of Rab, the parade goes towards the Mišnjak ferry pier, where it is also the first photo point on the parade. After taking photos, the fashion parade heads towards Supetarska Draga, where in front of the church of St. Peter, one of the oldest churches on the Adriatic, to be the second photo point. From Supetarska Draga, the defile starts towards Lopar and passes perhaps the most attractive part of the coastal road on Rab. Arriving in Lopar, the parade turns towards the ferry pier in Lopar, where there will be a third photo point and then towards Rajska beach, where there will also be a welcome for female bikers on the promenade next to the popular Rajska beach organized by TZ Lopar and at the same time the fourth photo point.
After Lopar, there is a return to the town of Rab and stops at the fifth photo point at the Zlatni zalaz viewpoint, the place where the most beautiful sunset is seen. After the Golden Sunset, the parade continues to the town of Kampor and the large sandy beach of Mel, where it will also be the last photo point on this parade.
After Kampor, there is a return to the city of Rab, but this time we go to the end of the waterfront, where the fashion show will end in Vela Riva, in front of the stage where the concert will be held in the evening. All in all, it’s 65 km of defile on the island of Rab! After that, the participants are free and can go to freshen up, have dinner, etc.
After the concert, the party can continue in one of the rap bars, and the organizers will give a recommendation to continue the party in a rap pub, which will also be a kind of base during this interesting weekend.
On the last day of the gathering, on Sunday, a boat trip will be organized for Photo Meeting participants, which will of course be free of charge. You will need to register for the boat trip during the online registration for the Photo Meeting.
The Rab Web Conference, a 4-day IT event that gathers lecturers from large companies such as Google, Infobip, Trikoder, Njuškalo, Kg Media, Arbona, AirCash, etc., takes place on the same weekend in Rab.
Although apparently these two events have no points of contact, each in their own way promotes the island of Rab as a tourist destination, so it is only logical that a point of contact happens somewhere. That point will be a concert on Saturday evening at which the popular singer Joško Čagalj Jole will perform, and all participants of the 1st International Photo Meeting MTC FELIX ARBA will have free admission to the concert. It will be a crazy evening with a lot of female bikers, bikers, IT experts, and other residents and guests of the island of Rab.
TOURIST PROMOTION OF THE ISLAND OF RABA
Apart from the fact that this event is a continuation of the project “On two wheels against prejudice” initiated by the Rab association Moto Trip Croatia, it is also a promotion of the island of Rab as a tourist destination. For this reason, we invite individual photographers, amateurs and professionals, as well as photo clubs who would like to bring their members to this attractive event, which would also serve as an attractive photo workshop. We only ask them to notify us of their arrival, and we will provide them with some benefits as well as all other participants, and if they wish, they can actively participate with us in the photographic coverage of the entire motorcycle parade around the island.
FEES
Considering the volume of work around the organization and covering all costs, we also introduce a REGISTRATION FEES for event participants. For the same registration fee, you get much more than its value. So let’s clarify:
Female participants pay a registration fee of €15, and for that registration fee they receive:
A guaranteed favorable price for accommodation, which will be much cheaper than the regular price in that period.
Coupons for 4 meals (Friday dinner, Saturday lunch and dinner, Sunday lunch) with which they get 20% off the total price of everything they eat and drink in one restaurant/pizzeria.
Free expert guided tour of the town and visits to the Rab archers and the House of Rab cake
Free panoramic boat trip
Free entrance to the concert
So, even with the price of accommodation, you will save more than the registration fee.
Guests who come to this event (they don’t even have to come with motorcycles) can also pay a registration fee of €15 in order to get the possibility of a better accommodation price and food discount coupons. So for guests, the registration fee is NOT mandatory, but if they want, they can register their arrival, pay the registration fee and thus save on accommodation and food.
The registration fee will be paid to the account of the association exclusively for this purpose, and applications will be made either through an email address or a special online form.
SPONSORS
All interested sponsors, especially those from the motorcycle world, who want to be one of the sponsors of this event or set up their exhibition/sales stalls, present new motorcycle models, equipment, etc., can contact us at E-mail:
mototripcroatia@gmail. com.
CONCLUSION
There is still a lot of time until then, and that’s exactly why you can plan your days off. The date of the event is Saturday, May 27, 2023. but we expect you already on Friday evening when there will be a gathering in a pub in Rab.
Tuesday, May 30, is the National Day holiday, and probably many will want to combine the holiday with the weekend, and maybe even spend a few days longer on Rab.
As you can see, a real spectacle awaits you on Rab, and all the participants who have participated in previous Photo Meetings know what kind of atmosphere reigned, so I can only imagine the positive energy this entire event on Rab will be charged with.
Everything will take place in cooperation and with the support of the Tourist Board of the town of Rab and the Tourist Board of Lopar.
We hope you like all of this and see you on Rab 26.5.-28.5.2023!
Text and photo: Dražen Kasprek