The world’s largest film and arts festival dedicated to the motorcycle life is coming to Picton.

The Motorcycle Film Festival (TMFF), founded in 2017 by Caius Tenche, features a program of short films built around motorcycle culture. It tours Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria, and Winnipeg. Halifax will join the circuit this fall. And this summer, for the first time, Picton is on the list.

Alex de Cartier, the founder of the Moto Craft Festival at Base31, is sponsoring the Film Fest, which he sees as the perfect  warm-up act for Moto Craft in July,  a long weekend of custom bikes, demo rides, stunt shows, and live music, now in its third year.

Together, the two events make a quiet but unmistakable argument: Prince Edward County, an established destination for wine, food, and the arts, is ready for something new.

On the Road 

Film Fest founder Caius Tenche came to motorcycles late in life. He was in his forties, it was the middle of winter, and he did what most people do in that situation: fall down a YouTube rabbit hole. What he found, eventually, was a series of short films by Australian director Cam Elkin called Stories of Bike. It “connected” with him in a way the usual riding vlogs did not.

“Yes, beautiful bikes. Yes, beautiful roads,” Mr. Tenche now says. “But really, the films were about the people, and their stories. Great storytelling, a nice arc that just left me wanting more.”

He looked for a motorcycle film festival in Toronto. There wasn’t one. And so, about three years later, he built the first TMFF. It ran over three days in Roncesvalles, and the energy it sparked surprised him.

“It wasn’t just people watching movies,” he recalls. “They were connecting over them. You could already feel there was something special going on.”

The festival program features
the story of Ari Henning riding in memory of his father;
modern adventurers retracing the original 
Dakar Rally route across the Sahara; and 
the extraordinary racing career of “Motorcycle Mary,” 
who challenged the sport’s gender barriers for over thirty years.

That “something special” is hard to explain; the films themselves resist easy categorization. None are just about motorcycles. The Picton program features the story of Ari Henning, riding in memory of his father; modern adventurers retracing the original Dakar Rally route across the Sahara; and the extraordinary racing career of “Motorcycle Mary,” who challenged the sport’s  gender barriers for over thirty years. 

“Motorcycles are the thread that carries the stories together,” Mr. Tenche explains. “They’re about risks people are taking, freedom, identity, ambition, travel, adventure. Some of the most memorable reactions I’ve seen come from people who don’t ride at all. They come in curious and leave a little surprised at how much they could relate to what was on screen.”

Picton has a thriving community of vintage bike enthusiasts, an active Canadian Vintage Motorcycle Group, Moto Social chapters, and a strong cultural identity. “Picton is a cultural destination,” he says. “I think there’s a good fit there.”

Moto Craft Festival

Meanwhile, the motorcycle film festival sparked new ideas. Moto Craft founder Alex de Cartier, a supporter of TMFF in Toronto for a few years, found himself talking to Mr. Tenche about an event to elevate motorcycle culture beyond the fluorescent-lit convention hall experience. 

One thing led to another.

The first edition of Moto Craft, in 2024, was at the Exhibition grounds in Toronto, but Mr. de Cartier found the experience constraining, and started looking for somewhere else. 

The ride to a destination, he thought, could be part of the event itself.

“People outside Toronto don’t want to go to Toronto, and people in Toronto don’t want to cross Toronto,” he says. “Why not create a destination event where the getting there is part of the fun?”

And then he stumbled across Base31. The historic former air base, now a County art, culture and events destination, was an obvious fit.

Mr. de Cartier began planning Moto Craft’s move to Prince Edward County. And after a very successful first year here last summer, he, too, found himself moving to Picton.

“A big part of it was wanting to get up in the morning, get on my bike, and be in the country in a few minutes,” he says. “But also, I wanted a change of lifestyle, and we had a bit of history here. All of those things came together.”

The Moto Craft Festival is a collaboration, starting with that between Tenche and de Cartier. “Moto Craft wants to do something different; it’s not your regular bike show,” Mr. Tenche says. “It’s a curated experience. Alex is very particular about making sure that the right things are on display, motorcycles, yes, but also art and music. Everything that surrounds motorcycle culture.”

The Canada Rides Adventure Rally, running alongside the festival, sends riders out on curated routes through the County’s backroads. Bloomfield, Wellington, and Picton can expect to see motorcycles during festival weekend. He hopes locals see that as an opportunity rather than an inconvenience: new visitors, new spending, and new interest in what the County has to offer.

The vision is long-term. Mr. de Cartier talks about a ten-year run, building something that goes on the calendar the way Sturgis or Daytona Bike Week do, American events that draw people from across the country.

“We don’t have a Sturgis, we don’t have a Daytona Bike Week in Canada,” he says. “This can become one of those events where, whether you ride across the country or down the 401, this becomes one of those places people want to get to. 

“A lot of people haven’t been here. I’d love to see a much larger festival in time.”

For now, the first step is much simpler: a Friday evening at The Regent Theatre, for people who may or may not ride motorcycles, and a program of short films about travel, loss, courage, and the open road.  

The Motorcycle Film Fest is at The Regent Friday, May 1st at 7 p.m. Tickets here.

The Moto Craft Festival runs July 24–26 at Base31. Tickets here.

2025 Moto Craft a County First.