I've only made it to Vanfest once, 2009 or whatever year around then that it absolutely chucked it down. Thoroughly enjoyed the event, absolutely huge and not enough time to see everything. One thing I liked was the volume of big name traders attending so it was possible to actually see and compare their wares. It's always better to see the products and meet the people before spending your hard earned.
Working on the assumption that the same format will be followed, I'm sure it will be a really good event, or at least one that I personally would enjoy. The price however, makes me shy away initially, though I have not ruled it out.
I think the two events will be very different, Van/Busfest with all the big name traders, Bus jam with perhaps a more relaxed and less commercial aspect? It is not feasable for the likes of JK, Schofields, C&C etc to have large pitches and stocks of parts at both events. Also the Suffolk event is new and despite the prospect of free pitches for traders, paying for a pitch at a venue assured to have plenty of punters will surely draw traders in the direction of Malvern.
The venue in Suffolk is really lovely, it's the one previously used for 'Alive an V'Dubin', a cracking event which after just 3 years has outgrown the site and moved on to 'Jimmy's Farm' for this year.
For me there is only 20 miles difference travelling, so not enough to decide the matter. Not having any money to spend and having had my fill of the congested, stressfull and ugly A14, M6, M42 etc over the years may well sway me towards the monotonous but rather pretty and relatively traffic free A14 in the other direction.
It's also shed loads less dollar which is a very real issue.
