Atlantic Beach Bike Fest, officially the Black Pearl Cultural Heritage and Bike Festival but also referred to as Black Bike Week, has drawn tens of thousands of motorcyclists to the small Grand Strand town every Memorial Day weekend since 1980.
For more than four decades, the event has been shaped by lawsuits over traffic restrictions, deadly shootings and crowd safety incidents. Accusations of racial discrimination have changed how Myrtle Beach and other cities handle the busy weekend that draws bikers from all over the country.
Over the years the bike fest has been a source of contention between city and county officials, attendees, businesses and even at one point South Carolina’s governor…