Gates opened for camping at 10am on the Saturday morning - a really good idea as it meant a real lazy day of doing very little, bagging a good camping spot, watching cars and vans arrive and generally sitting under that sun with a cold beer.
Watching the type of vehicle and owner arriving we suddenly realised that the show had a somewhat 'split personality' to it. Hoardes of young lads in nearly new cars running static drops to the ground. Thankfully they were in 'general' camping and we were in the designated 'quiet' camping - more on that soon...
The show's appeal on paper was a mix of live music, quality food stalls and a vintage fair. Combined with a line-up of show vehicles from different scenes, it can't fail to be good. But the majority of the live music was hard-rock (not appealing to the bass-loving lads), the food was a great mix of Noodles, Chili Dogs, Brazilian street food, Beers from a local brewery etc. (the majority of punters seemed to be eating chips and drinking Budweiser), the vintage fair was really cool but retro-phones, vintage tweed and teacups aren't exactly 'scene' either.
With a more diverse crowd I feel this show could really work. But should the organisers play to the masses? Or push their promotion towards that more discerning audience?
My grumble at the youth of today started when, on each visit across the field to use the facilities (of which there weren't enough), I would find myself picking up the aforementioned Budweiser bottles - carelessly discarded on a field where the next day the youths would be driving their vehicles!
Bins and loos; the two things that should be in abundance at every show.
Quiet camping didn't really work. Of the 500 camping passes sold, 400 must have been in general camping. I was amazed at 6.30pm that a security gang would come rushing over to me to check that my barbecue wasn't in the grass - but where were they at 1.30am when there's still a noise nuisance?
The location of quiet camping just wasn't right - stuck in the middle with the live music stage in one direction and general camping in the other. One of the organising crew asked us on Sunday morning if it had been okay so we explained a few issues, he agreed pointing out an area that had been suggested for quiet camping that would have been far better, so maybe next year...
Rant over. The rest of the show was great - it's still in it's infancy and the first year of being a two-day event - so I'll happily forgive most of the negative points. And a massive well-done to the organisers who never get enough praise for putting on events like this.
We woke early, tidied up, breakfasted, stuck the van on the show field and sat in the sun.
We got some great comments for all different walks of life - even the youth of today seem to like it! The mix of cars on the show field was fantastic; everything from Vdubs and Audis to Lancia, Ford, drag cars, rally cars, American cars and trucks.
Would we go again? The jury's still out at the moment. I guess having a modern, watercooled campervan and searching for that perfect car-show, I too need a 'split personality'.
