After hearing a report from staff on the impact of the 2025 Hollister Independence Rally, members of the city council agreed Sept. 2 to repeat the two-day celebration of motorcycle culture next July.
Councilmembers also agreed to pursue another contract with Roadshows Inc. to promote and manage the event in 2026; commission a full economic impact report of the 2025 rally; and schedule next year’s event as a two-day rally over the July 4 holiday weekend.
The 2025 Independence Rally took place July 4-5 in downtown Hollister. Citing numbers gathered by the Hollister Downtown Association, City Manager David Mirrione said the rally brought about 12,400 people to downtown on July 4, and about 14,100 people on July 5.
Many downtown business owners have said their sales jumped—some of them significantly—during the 2025 rally.
Hollister Mayor Roxanne Stephens and other rally proponents at the Sept. 2 council meeting projected that with a full year of planning, the 2026 rally could attract even more financial benefit to the city.
The city only began planning for the 2025 rally in January—also when the council agreed to hire Roadshows Inc. to manage the event.
Stephens added the Hollister biker rally—which dates back to 1947—is the city’s “greatest asset.”
“If we don’t take advantage of that, we are losing an incredible opportunity to spur our economy,” Stephens said. “We can encourage more sponsorships, more vendors, more visitors—all of which equals more to our local economy.”
Mirrione’s report to the council included financial details of the 2025 rally. The city’s gross revenues to the city for the two-day rally were about $458,000. The city’s operating expenses for this year’s rally totaled about $654,000.
That left the city with an event cost of just under $200,000, Mirrione said. The council had approved that amount to spend on the rally earlier this year.
Revenues include money from beer sales, a food sales commission, sponsorships, vendors’ fees and more.
Expenses for the 2025 rally include a security contract with American Global Security, a consulting fee for Roadshows, other safety expenses, legal costs, insurance, lodging and meals for staff and VIP and more.
City staff costs estimated to have been spent on planning and hosting the 2025 rally were about $162,000, Mirrione said. This cost was not included in the revenue and expense analysis.
The city also has not yet been able to estimate sales and hotel tax revenues received during the July 4-5 rally. Mirrione said those numbers will be available in the coming weeks.
Several members of the public who spoke at the meeting said they were impressed with the outcome of the 2025 rally, especially considering the city only began organizing the two-day event six months beforehand.
“We need to keep this going,” Hollister resident Maureen Nelson said. “We need to create a community because this is who we are. We’ve got our neighbors, we’ve got our pride. Let’s keep it going.”
Peter Hernandez, owner of Ohana Shaved Ice in downtown Hollister, noted that sales at his shop increased by 500% on each of the rally’s two days. He added that the 2025 rally was a “safe and fun” event.
“I commend you for even considering” a rally repeat for next year, Hernandez said. “This is part of the culture of San Benito County.”
