BMW Motorrad Days without Garmisch: What the end means for fans and the town

• No BMW Motorrad Days 2027 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
• BMW will focus on regional events in many countries in future
• Garmisch is considering its own meeting on the first weekend of July

For many BMW riders, the first weekend of July in Garmisch-Partenkirchen was a fixed date in the calendar for years. That is over for now. In early October 2026, the municipality announced that BMW Motorrad will no longer hold its big gathering at the foot of the local Hausberg mountain in 2027. The news comes as a surprise. Only in spring 2025 had BMW announced a break for 2026 and promised a return for 2027. This means one of the best-known summer motorcycle meetings disappears from the 2027 event calendar, at least in its previous form.

Why are the BMW Motorrad Days 2027 not taking place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen?

BMW Motorrad is realigning its event concept and wants to put a stronger focus on regional events in international markets. The company has informed the municipality of Garmisch-Partenkirchen of this decision.

The municipality made the decision public in a statement. Its first sentence leaves no room for interpretation: “The BMW Motorrad Days will not take place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 2027.” Instead of one big central gathering in southern Germany, fans are to be addressed closer to where they live in future. The BMW Motorrad Days brand is not being scrapped altogether. Only the central meeting in Upper Bavaria is being dropped. Neither the municipality’s statement nor BMW’s comment mentions a later return to Garmisch.

How does BMW Motorrad explain its departure from Garmisch?

BMW points out that its own motorcycle community has become much more international. According to the company, events under the BMW Motorrad Days name already take place in numerous markets worldwide, reaching more fans than a single central event.

In its statement, BMW recalls that motorcycle boss Markus Flasch once called the town the “Hoam Coming” of the BMW Motorrad community. That, it says, has not changed. Garmisch still stands for the special significance the town has had for motorcyclists over generations. BMW frames the step itself as follows: “The decision to further internationalise the BMW Motorrad Days is therefore not a farewell to tradition, but the logical next step in a success story.” The company explicitly names the values Garmisch stood for: community, passion and personal encounters. These experiences are to become accessible to more people around the world in future.

BMW does not comment on costs or budgets in its current statement.

What does the cancellation mean for Garmisch-Partenkirchen?

The town loses a major event that played an important role for hotels, restaurants and retail. The municipality’s reaction is correspondingly disappointed: “We very much regret this decision.”

The municipality stresses that the BMW Motorrad Days were closely linked to the town for many years and brought people from all over the world to Garmisch. It would have liked to continue the cooperation. At the same time, the municipality respects BMW’s strategic decision. In closing, it thanks BMW Motorrad, partners and emergency services as well as the many volunteers who supported the meeting over the years.

What happened to the announced two-year cycle?

The two-year cycle is now obsolete after just one round. In March 2025, BMW had announced that it would only hold the BMW Motorrad Days every two years and return to Garmisch in 2027.

On 3 March 2025, BMW Motorrad invited fans to the 2025 edition via social media with the line: “Join us before we take a break and return to beautiful Garmisch in 2027!” At the time, the company justified the 2026 break with the International GS Trophy, an elaborate off-road competition run by BMW that also takes place every two years. Both events were “two major events that both require the full energy and attention of those responsible”. BMW spoke of a strategic realignment back then and stressed that it was not a cost-cutting measure. The aim was to develop both events further at a high level on an alternating basis. With the current decision, that alternation will no longer happen in Garmisch.

How long have the BMW Motorrad Days been part of Garmisch-Partenkirchen?

The big BMW gathering has been linked to Garmisch-Partenkirchen since 2002. Until 2019 it took place there every summer, usually on the first weekend in July and with around 40,000 visitors each time.

Initially the event was still called the “International BMW Motorrad Biker Meeting”, later BMW Motorrad Days. The venue was the area at the Hausberg cable car in the Zugspitze region. The surroundings with mountain roads and gravel tracks suited adventure bikes such as the GS well. The programme included new models, test rides, exhibitions, shows and Bavarian-style partying in the festival tent.

In 2020 and 2021 the meeting was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. In 2022 and 2023 BMW moved the Motorrad Days to Berlin. The move was much debated in the scene. In 2023 the 21st edition was all about 100 years of BMW Motorrad. According to BMW, 32,000 fans from more than 60 nations came to the Motorrad Days at five different venues, and together with the parallel Pure&Crafted Festival there were around 37,000 visitors.

2024 saw the return to Garmisch. Markus Flasch, who had only recently taken over as head of BMW Motorrad, celebrated it as a “Hoamcoming”. According to BMW, the 2025 edition from 4 to 6 July was the 20th event in Garmisch and the 23rd BMW Motorrad Days overall. More than 40,000 fans from around 50 nations attended. There were around 1,600 test rides and a purpose-built off-road course on the Hausberg. There, the F 900 GS, the R 1300 GS and the then-new R 12 G/S could be tried out off-road. Superbike factory riders Toprak Razgatlıoğlu and Michael van der Mark were also on site. As things stand, that was the last edition in Garmisch.

Will there be a replacement meeting in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 2027?

Possibly, but nothing is concrete yet. Together with GaPa Tourismus, the municipality is examining whether there can still be a central meeting point with a supporting programme on the first weekend of July in future.

The municipality itself makes it clear: “These considerations are still at a very early stage.” No dates, programme or partners have been announced so far. Even after the two-year cycle was announced in 2025, initial talks are said to have taken place in Garmisch about replacement events for the years without a BMW meeting. Whether this will result in a new motorcycle meeting that continues the tradition remains open.

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