Lord Mayor of Belfast, Cllr Nuala McAllister has officially announced that Belfast will host the world’s biggest Vespa rally. The event will benefit two official charities Air Ambulance NI and East Belfast Mission and will take place in June 2018. Also included in the picture is Anne Marie Kelly, Director of event sponsors MKB Law.

Belfast is to play host to the world’s biggest gathering of Vespa enthusiasts next summer.

The annual Vespa World Days extravaganza, which celebrates the heritage and culture which has grown up around the iconic scooter brand, will take place in the Titanic Quarter over the weekend of 14 – 17 June.

Up to 5,000 Vespa owners from at least 40 different countries are expected to descend on the city, bringing with them an estimated £7.7 million in economic benefit as they fill between 20,000 and 70,000 bed nights.

Vespa World Days trace their roots back to 1954, when the first ever inter-European Vespa Rally was held in Paris. Rebranded in 2007, this is only the second time that the biggest annual event on the international scootering calendar has been held in the United Kingdom.

Announcing details of the 2018 event, the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Nuala McAllister said:

“Belfast is absolutely delighted to be the host city for the 2018 Vespa World Days, and I congratulate the Ulster Vespa Club for their successful bid to host the event.

“This promises to be a unique and spectacular event, with thousands of Vespas taking to the streets, as well as the Titanic slipways, and it will be a great opportunity for people of all ages to adventure into the culture and heritage of Vespa, while adding to Belfast’s own cultural offering, and I am sure people will scoot on down to see the spectacle that is Vespa World Days.”

The Vespa World Days 2018 will centre around a specially constructed ‘Vespa Village’, based at Titanic Belfast. Over the four days, there will be a wide range of special events, exhibitions and live entertainment as well as ‘ride outs’ and a cavalcade of all the participating scooterists from the Titanic Quarter to Carrickfergus Castle.

Vespa World Days is supported by Belfast City Council, Titanic Belfast and Visit Belfast, and sponsored by MKB Law.

Anne Marie Kelly, Director at MKB Law, said: "We are proud and excited to be associated with such a fantastic event. The Titanic and Vespa brands are renowned worldwide, and we look forward to witnessing the two combined next year in Belfast!"

The event will also have two official charities: Air Ambulance Northern Ireland and the East Belfast Mission.

For more information, visit www.vespaworlddays2018.co.uk. You can also keep up to date on the event’s official Facebook page.

In April 1946, this amazing new, functional and innovative mode of transport was presented to the general public for the first time in a Golf Club in Rome. The shield was embossed with a new logo which replaced the previous Piaggio Aircraft emblem. Vespa was an immediate success and gained extensive media interest as well as public curiosity, surprise and even skepticism. The first sales of Vespa were managed through a small dealer network and the price of the standard model was 55,000 lire, while the deluxe version was sold for 66,000 lire.

The Vespa 98 Corsa was built specifically to show the world that the capacity of the small scooter could be competitive in races. The great swarm of Vespa which was growing in the streets and squares of Italy, motivated Enrico Piaggio to produce an aggressive vehicle, which could be an on-track winner. The first to ride the Vespa 98 on circuit was Giuseppe Cau who triumphed in the Monte Mario Hill Climb in 1947. The Vespa 98 Corsa (Circuit) was built for speed and stood for innovation. The body was hand-built with a steel frame. The brakes were drum, equipped with rear air vents for cooling. The gearbox was a three-speed unit, which enabled throttle control and cooling happened through a forced air ventilation. Its original color was red, that’s why this model was also known as the small "fireball".