Vanfest
THIS IS NEW! HOT OFF THE PRESS!
For VWT2OC members, there is a new booking form which will give you access to a significant discount on Vanfest bookings. It is stored in the Members Area of this website - please browse along there to download it. It should also have appeared in the magazine for April if you need a paper version.
Just for the record - the discount only covers the members listed on your membership, i.e. any joint or child members. Please do not try to order tickets with this form if you do not have a membership with us - the membership numbers will be checked with the current database before any tickets are issued.
For non-Club members, Vanfest has a new online advanced booking system for 2009. It costs £37 per ticket and a £1.50 booking fee. Please go to the Vanfest website. It should still be possible to book using a paper form, but there will be NO tickets on the gate.
ALL TICKET SALES by whichever route, will cease on 31st July or when they run out, whichever is sooner! If your tickets have not arrived by mid-August, contact the Vanfest team. Thank you!
PLEASE NOTE - THE DEADLINE WAS CHANGED TO 15th OF JULY FOR THE VWT2OC CLUB BOOKINGS. IF YOU MISSED IT YOU WILL NEED TO CONTACT KEITH MILLER. THANK YOU!
An Introduction...
Vanfest is the biggest VW event in the British calendar, and it was started by the Volkswagen Type 2 Owners Club. It is still run on behalf of the Club by one of the founding members, Simon Holloway. He now directs a huge team of (mostly) volunteers, who spend two weeks every September building up, running, and then taking down the event. You can visit the website to find out about this years' show - visit www.vanfest.org.
Come September, thousands of VW enthusiasts and owners drive (or tow!) their pride and joy to the Three Counties Showground in Malvern. After a joining the queue to get in, and finding either the Club spot or a free space among many others, everybody pitches up and the weekend has begun.
A gentle cloud of barbecue smoke ascends the valley, and the grounds take on the multicoloured spectacle of people, vehicles, tents and entertainments. The hills overlook a fantastic scene, with flags, marquees and lights as the fairground swings into action and the evening draws on.
In the major marquees, the hired entertainment - usually big named bands or acts - keep thousands enthralled, while outside in the dark folk gather around their barbecue with a few beers and their VW friends and family. Impromptu bands form at the corners of a pitch, bringing a real festival feel to the night. They will carry on tomorrow, right through the day.
There is really something for everyone; you can buy just about any spares you might need, there are activities to occupy the children, there are demonstrations to help you plan the next part of your restoration job, a cooking in a camper competition, a model van concours and real vans in all states on display or for sale.
By the end of the weekend, you have to fit everyone back in your van, plus the camping gear, and somehow you need to cram in the bargains you picked up! It also means that you know exactly what you will be doing next weekend - attempting to carry out some fiendishly difficult repair...
Vanfest History
by Simon Holloway
Way back in 1991 when the VW TYPE II OWNERS CLUB was formed one of the many targets we set ourselves was to investigate the possibility of presenting a new show for the owners of vans.
At that time the VW scene was in a state of flux, apart from the SSVC (which was already well established) there was very little to cater to the needs of a transporter owner existing in a climate which was then very much dominated by Beetles. How things can change in a decade. Vanfest itself could have turned out very differently to the show you see today had things happened as originally planned…….
The original concept was that Vanfest was to be a good value for money family show for owners of vans of ALL makes and would evolve into Britain’s first `Classic Van Show`. Indeed several other (non VW) van clubs were invited to the original launch meeting for Vanfest but in the end only the SSVC and our own T2OC attended & finally it was down to the T2OC alone to launch the show.
We did our homework and decided that MALVERN was by far the best showground to hold the event and in 1993 we tested the water by hosting a very successful camping weekend at the venue.
Vanfest was launched in 1994. Well of course luck was on our side as that was the year that VW Action didn’t happen & in a single stroke we managed to establish a major new show into the VW scene. At the start of the weekend we really did not know what to expect but `VANTASTIC MALVERN’ as we called it proved to be more popular than we could ever have imagined.
It was obvious, as well that our original idea for a Classic van show was dead in the water, (so was our original show logo!) Vanfest was definitely going to remain a VW Transporter show.
By today’s standards the first show was very small. I actually managed to do a count of campers at this show (Splits 14, Bays 291, Wedges 47, T4’s 5, Others 10) There were a lot more day visitors but less than 800 vans in total. No chance of doing that again!
From that good start the show has continued to develop, along with the T2OC with `vanatical support’ from both the trade and a very loyal band of `van fans’
OK so what does it take to produce a show like Vanfest? Well words can never describe it but basically it takes a lot of very hard work from the Vanfest crew to produce what on the outside appears to be a very slick show from a heap of chaos. Many of us have been running VW shows for more years than we care to remember. The year round operation to plan & organise the show is carried out by a very small band of (unpaid!) volunteers. We need a lot more help now for the build-up at the showground which has now had to be increased from 3 days to a week with another day or so for breaking down. During the weekend we use around 50 extra volunteer helpers for marshalling.
On top of that we hire in a lot of other additional services such as security, first aid, additional gate help and a very dedicated band of cleaners. (last year the show produced 16 tonnes of rubbish!). Then there is all the additional entertainers and catering services plus all the extra portable buildings & facilities required to make the running of the show as smooth as possible.
We try very hard (well not that hard & not always succeeding!) to provide something for everybody and also make every year different. Being a Transporter show our VW trader options are limited, not everybody sells van bits (not yet anyway!) so we do have a wide mix (over 150 plots) of other traders as well not all selling bits of Volkwagens.
We provide first class entertainment for (almost) everybody. OK, so not everybody liked the Wurzels & I’ve no plans to try country & Western again!, The Bierkeller men had a good stint & we have also had Soul & reggae bands, and a wide range of other entertaining bands. We have to provide entertainment that is suitable for (most!) of the wide range of ages that attend the show. On the whole I think we do manage to do that.
We are not afraid to try out (or pinch!) other hair brained idea’s, some of which become very popular. The “BIG” Displays & Cooking in a camper being notable successes, this year we will again be doing our own Malvern cruise (Bay Tripper), the others well……. I can’t remember them so they are probably best forgotten!
The Display theme provides a change from the normal concours or Show & Shine & is different each year. We give anyone with something worth looking at (providing its connected with vans & legal!) the chance to show off. Over the years we have covered alternative engines, various camper conversions, VW Commercial vans & fancy paint jobs.
Our most popular item by a long chalk of course has been our `BIG’ display themes. Why do we do them? Well its simple, its because we can & are probably the only show in the county that has got the right type of enthusiasts to make them work. They are also the best adverts we have ever had for the show.
The original BIG VW stemmed from an idea to put a large VW roundel on the Malvern Hills. But knowing that we would never get permission to do this a display on the site was the obvious next step.
At Vanfest 96 Channel 4 with Nicky Campbell filmed the event for `Ride On’ & we found that we were able to get masses of vans at short notice to do a display if the owners knew what the end result would be (i.e.; be in a picture or on the telly!)
There then followed a year of planning cumulating in a pitch for the display which was marked out over 2 days using measuring tapes, pegs & a lot of string! (Despite the local rabbit population doing its utmost to disrupt the proceedings.) “BIG VW” happened at Vanfest 97 and was filmed for BBC `The Cars the Star’. One of the highlights for all of us (and an immense sense of relief) was when the call that “the Big VW is complete” went out. The atmosphere at the awards ceremony when we showed the video footage of the display was fantastic.
We had a “quiet” year during 1998 but were already making plans for an even more spectacular “BIG” display for the following year. This time we managed to go a bit more high tech & used the services of a surveyor to mark out the van positions. The “BIG BAY” made up from 570 vehicles in 1999 was almost scuppered by the horrendous weather conditions we had during that weekend. Luckily the field chosen had good drainage & we were able to proceed.
Ever since then our van fans have been badgering us about doing the next one. Well it is not that easy, you can probably (not) appreciate it takes nearly as much effort (& resources) to do one of these displays as it does to run the show.
VANFEST 2000
At Vanfest 2000 we faced something which was not in our contingency plan, the petrol famine. This severely effected the numbers that attended the show but luckily (for us!) we had not over committed ourselves to any major displays. I have to say that the atmosphere at the show during that year was probably the best we have ever had. The sheer relief and determination of hardened vanfest fans to get to the show was very heartening.
VANFEST 2001
Then of course we had just begun the build up for VANFEST 2001 after suffering 6 months of foot & mouth uncertainties when 911 struck home & we wondered if the show would be able to go ahead at all. In the end this was one of our most successful years ever as we believe many people just wanted to get away from what was happening elsewhere & enjoy themselves.
VANFEST 2002
Well what can I say about 2002. It seemed at one stage that the vans were never going to stop coming. We ran out of our normal camping areas early on the Friday evening. The police reported that there was a steady stream of vans backed up to the M50 9 miles away! Certainly a bumper year with what seemed to be thousands of vans on site camping with a further 1000 arriving as day visitors.
VANFEST 2003
2003was the 10th VANFEST. For some of us it was also the 20th year we have been involved in presenting VW shows. It was also be the 20th anniversary of the SSVC. With this in mind we aimed to provide some really top notch entertainment for everyone as well as having a celebration ourselves.
To give everybody a bit more room we opened up a whole new camping area. The North Campsite be able to accommodate at least 1000 units.
We really pulled out the stops when it came to displays in that year.
“50 Years of VW Transporters” - was selection of transporters from every year (except 1950!) until present day – something not to be missed.
“Alternative Engines” – Just what it says – Transporters that are powered by something just a bit out of the ordinary. This will also featured vehicles with LPG conversions.
There were a few other interesting displays going on a well including a special disaster control display featuring some very rare vehicles from Germany.
“The BIG SPLIT” the long awaited third (and last) of the “BIG” trilogy displays this time in the outline of a Split Screen Van was constructed on the Sunday using approximately 600 transporters. This was intended to be the largest, and most spectacular vehicle display ever presented (anywhere!). We like to keep Vanfest in the frame by making you part of the picture!