FALLBROOK: Fallbrook Motor Fest rolls into town Saturday

The art of the engine will be celebrated Saturday in Fallbrookwith the inaugural Motor Fest, which is scheduled to bring music,beer and horsepower to downtown. The event will join four seasonal festivals held each year bythe Historical Downtown Merchants Association and could become anannual celebration, said Michael Calvanese, president of theassociation. Calvanese said inspiration for the Fallbrook Motor Fest camefrom the third Wheels of Desire show running at the Fallbrook ArtCenter, where 39 motorcycles are on display through Aug. 15. "I just thought it would be great to piggyback on that," saidCalvanese, owner of Café des Artistes in the Art Center. While the Wheels of Desire exhibit is about motorcycles only,Calvanese said Motor Fest will be more inclusive. "The concept is not just motorcycles," he said. "We're going tohave vintage Porches, classic cars and more bikes.I was trying toget a helicopter here. anything that has a motor. I see itexpanding in the years into anything that has a motor, evenyachts." Motor Fest will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday on MainAvenue, which will be closed to traffic between Elder and Alvaradostreets. the festival is free for people walking on Main Avenue toadmire the motor displays, but there is a $5 fee to enter the twobeer gardens at either end of the event. Music will be provided in the beer gardens by the bands Andre J,Gin Pistons, given Life and Indica Roots. Vintage cars from local clubs, as well as five classic Porschesfrom California Porsche Restoration in Fallbrook, will line MainAvenue during Saturday's event. People visiting the festival also will have an opportunity tostop by the Wheels of Desire show at the Art Center on the cornerof Main and Alvarado. Mary Perhacs, the center's executivedirector, said the center will be open past its regular 4 p.m.closing time that day. Admission to the center is $8, but visitors that day can buy a$30 VIP ticket that will get them into the center and the beergardens, discounts to local restaurants and an event T-shirtdesigned by local artist Brett Stokes. Owners of some of themotorcycles on display in the show will be at the center that day,she said. Perhacs said motorcycles and Fallbrook seem to be a good match,although he noted that some regular patrons of the center weren'tconvinced before the first Wheels of Desire show was presented in2003. "I said, 'Give it a chance,'" Perhacs said. "They came in andsaid, 'These are beautiful.'" Custom motorcycles are at the heart of the popular realitytelevision show "American Chopper," and Perhacs said a GuggenheimMuseum exhibit on motorcycles inspired her to create the firstWheels of Desire show. the Fallbrook exhibit has been expanded inits third incarnation at the center, she said. "Many people look at them as art forms," she said. Perhacs also said she was encouraged to learn that people fromLos Angeles and Palm Springs were coming to see the center'smotorcycle show and that more than half of the visitors said theywere interested in learning more about the center. Call staff writer Gary Warth at 760-740-5410.

FALLBROOK: Fallbrook Motor Fest rolls into town Saturday