New road closures in effect for Friday the 13th biker rally in Port Dover, Ont.
The only Friday the 13th of the year is coming up this week and for Port Dover, Ont., that means the return of the famous biker rally.
Since 1981, the traditional ride on every Friday the 13th draws thousands of bikers to Port Dover, with visitors coming in from across North America.
According to the Norfolk County website, road closures will begin Thursday at noon and continue until 4 a.m. Saturday. Main Street will be closed, along with Nelson Street W., part of Greenstock Street W., and portions of other streets that intersect with Main Street downtown. The municipality and organizers have shared an event map showing what will be closed and where people can park.
For the first time, St. George, Walker and St. Andrew streets will be for motorcycle traffic only. "If you live on these roads and need to leave/return home for the duration, please treat these roads as one-way, and turn onto the first available side street to travel through town," Norfolk County said.
Co-organizers, The Port Dover Kinsmen, will provide a shuttle bus from a parking lot out of town. On Facebook, the organization said it expects up to 200,000 visitors to the town of about 8,000.
The rally will feature concerts starting Thursday at 7 p.m., and Friday at 11 a.m., including by Tragically Hip, Mötley Crüe and Guns N' Roses cover bands.
This will be the only Friday the 13th in 2025, with three coming in 2026.
Police remind bikers to 'share the road safely'
In a June 6 news release, the Norfolk County Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said most people attending the events are motorcycle enthusiasts looking to have fun. Still, he said, police will be more present than usual in Port Dover in the interest of "traffic safety."
The detachment said "outlaw motorcycle gang members" will likely be in attendance and that wearing gang-related clothing can increase the risk of being targeted by rival groups.
Residents should also be mindful of rules around where they can park and consume alcohol, police said. They also warned that airspace over the municipality's downtown will be closed to prevent conflicts with drones.
"Motorcyclists and other drivers are reminded to share the road safely, particularly with the higher traffic volume expected over the weekend," OPP said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
5 hours ago
- CBC
#TheMoment a N.B. student rode her horse to get her high school diploma
Kenzie Simmons, a Saint John high school graduate with autism, describes getting the opportunity to receive her diploma with her beloved horse, Blondie.
Globe and Mail
7 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Valorant Masters Toronto e-sports tournament ‘surreal' experience for fans
For traditional sports fans, the Valorant Masters Toronto e-sports tournament could be a culture shock. At Sunday's final, there was no field, rink or court. Instead, at game time, two groups of mostly 20-somethings sat behind computer monitors at a long desk atop a platform, trying to virtually eliminate their opponents as fans watched on a jumbotron above. Occasionally, strobe lights punctuated big moments. Attendees described it as a mix of a music festival and a sports game. For fans of the multibillion-dollar world of e-sports, it was an electric environment. 'It's bringing a community together that's been loving games all their lives,' said Matthew Ragoonath, near a crowd of people. 'Especially with events like this, everyone gets to come out, and it's just a surreal experience.' Valorant, a first-person shooter game centred around heroic characters called agents, exploded in popularity quickly after its debut in June, 2020. Tracker Network, which follows statistics, player population and leaderboards for popular online games, tracked nearly 850,000 Valorant players in its first month; that number grew more than five-fold in the next month. In May, 2025, Tracker Network tracked about 18.2 million players of the game. Valorant Masters Toronto arrived in the middle of the city's Video Games Month. The tournament was expected to have a $40-million economic impact, according to a City of Toronto news release at the beginning of June. Major leagues are turning to esports to draw in new, and younger, fans Edmonton school's e-sports athletes go mouse-to-mouse with province's best Sunday marked the culmination of two weeks of tournament gameplay. The arena was set up as if for a boxing or wrestling match, with the audience surrounding a raised platform at the centre. But instead of punches, the players exchanged gunfire with quick flicks of the wrist and deliberate mouse clicks. Just before the final began, players walked through an arch with flashing lights, taking time to brush the hands of fans who stretched over the metal barriers along the entranceway. A jumbotron hung above the players where spectators could watch the action as it was happening in the simulated war zone. The battle would shift from quiet footsteps and tactical moves to dramatic firefights in an instant. Fans would cheer and jeer at the sight of a fallen agent on-screen, not unlike the sound of an arena when a hockey puck slides dangerously close to the goal line, or a spectacular save from a soccer goaltender. The team winner of the final, Paper Rex, won a trophy and US$350,000, the largest cut of a US$1-million purse that's split between the top eight. Teams also garner circuit points on their way to the championship in Paris. In Sunday's crowd, some showed their support for Fnatic, the opponent team. Bri Sison was in the crowd wearing the flag of the eventual champions. She travelled from San Francisco for the tournament. 'The plot with their games are always just so unpredictable, you never know what's going to happen next,' she said of Paper Rex. Some people The Globe and Mail spoke with at the event say they formed connections in lineups to the event or, in one case, at a restaurant after noticing another person wearing an e-sport jersey. In a group of five, two had come solo, meeting the rest in lineups. 'My whole group actually cancelled on me, so I'm the only person who came, and every single day I've been with people, I've found groups, people have adopted me in,' Maria Liong said. She said that, despite the reputation the online game has for being toxic, events such as the e-sports tournament show a more inclusive community. Members of the group paid varying costs for their tickets. Some pre-sale buyers got tickets for $115, while another who bought their ticket later paid the Canadian equivalent of about $395. Tickets for the final available on Stubhub Saturday evening ranged from about $429 to more than $1,700 at the peak. Before game time on Sunday, hundreds of fans shuffled through a sign-making area, markering slogans or artful creations to hold in the sky. Others crowded into lines for merchandise, games or photo opportunities. Some attendees chose to dress up as characters in the game, not unlike patrons at comic or gaming conventions, in what's known as cosplay. Cai Zhao had an elaborate costume that resembled the character Jett. 'I can't actually play the game, I'm really bad, so I can dress up as one,' she laughed. She watches Valorant's fast-paced gameplay often, but said the energy of an in-person viewing adds to the excitement. For tournament host Toronto, the 'gaming industry reflects the best of our city. It is creative, diverse and forward-thinking,' Mayor Olivia Chow said ahead of this month's competition. 'Video Game Month is an invitation to celebrate this growing sector and the talented people behind it and to discover how gaming connects with art, innovation and our local communities.'
CTV News
8 hours ago
- CTV News
‘Bring the digital into your world': U of R students share augmented reality projects
University students are sharing their augmented reality (AR) projects with families at the Saskatchewan Science Centre. Created by U of R students, the AR design allows people to view digital illustrations in their current environment by scanning a QR code. 'Augmented reality is like Pokémon Go. That's one of the more common examples that people tend to understand,' explained Evie Johnny Ruddy, assistant professor of Creative Technologies and Design at the U of R. 'Whereas with VR, you put a headset on and you're completely in the digital world, AR allows you to bring the digital into your world. It looks like the digital would be in this space with us.' Five different projects were showcased, including The Eternal Walking Path, Nature Hunt, Poetry Pathway, Escape the Cabin, and the Absence of Space. Shelby Kerbs, creative technologist of Nature Hunt, said her project focuses on connecting nature to urban areas. 'It's a scavenger hunt where you're going to find basically little snow piles around. Each time you click on one, in your AR experience, you're going to get a Saskatchewan perennial plant that pops up and you're going to learn about it,' she said. Augmented reality University of Regina (U of R) students are sharing their augmented reality (AR) projects with families at the Saskatchewan Science Centre. (Sierra D'Souza Butts/CTV News) Based on her passion for plants, Kerbs said the project was an opportunity to share her interest with others. 'I did a focus on plants specifically for my own personal interest. I've been a garden centre worker for a long time and I have always been interested in plants,' she expressed. '….I was trying to make a scavenger hunt in the sense that you're trying to find plants in urban spaces specifically like Victoria Park, downtown Regina. You're going to try and find plants [in the city] instead of just seeing always grass and trees.' Students being able to share their projects with the public was part of the 'experiential learning component' to the Creative Technologies and Design class. Despite being similar to VR, Ruddy shared the key differences, stating augmented experiences help provide a visual realistic point of view. 'I love AR because you can change your environment with digital artworks and content. You can bring it into your own space, and it looks like it's in the space with you,' Ruddy said. 'It can change the way you see the world around you. It can be really immersive, just as immersive as VR. I hope people try out the projects. I hope that they find them enjoyable and exciting and that they gain a better understanding of what AR is.'
