Busfest thoughts

[sharman]

Visited busfest as day visitor today. Not been for a couple of years and was excited, but left feeling disappointed. It felt like the show has swung favourably towards the T5/T6 brigade. The show was just brimming with T5/6 conversions/companies and I soon became bored. Nothing against these as I recently enjoyed driving a T6 while my earlybay is off the road.
Anyway, Not much auto jumble that I went for, and I was more likely to come home with a set of T5 led lights and 20" wheels. Also JK big tent felt bare with next to no parts on offer, unless you want a plastic JK dog bowl wtf. Don't think I'll bother next year.

 

[K@rlos]

Thats the scene all over now :roll: Pisses me off, why can't they have their own shows to discuss sticker bombing filler caps and listen to crappy dubstep :lol:

 

[Moseley]

We turned up at 16:00 having had other plans earlier in the day. They still wanted the full £15 day ticket price on the gate, so we went home instead. I figured everything would be shutting up around 18:00 so wasn't paying all that for a brief visit. Sounds like we didn't miss much anyway...

 

[K@rlos]

I much prefer the Euro shows, Freddies Files, EBI etc. only decent UK i went to this year was Viva Skeg Vegas

 

[Lee C]

VW shows are still class if they're cheap enough , it's like reasonable priced camping with your mates, with bands on if you want & a car show too!!!!
Well at least they are oop Norf!!! :lol: :lol:

 

[Clem]

Just a thought ...

If everyone who didn't go to Busfest because it's full of modern vans went, then would it be full of aircooled vans and then would the aircooled traders feel more inclined to also go again?

:mrgreen:

 

[ozziedog]

Loved it ,, hated the rain on Saturday, got to chat to lots and lots of Early Bay peeps that we camp with, lots of other Earlies about in camping mixed in with their mates too. Yes there are more and more 4s 5s and 6s as they are still making these. There are less air cooled every year through natural wasteage and loads needing a serious resto. Clem is bang on that if you don`t turn up to these shows, there will be less and less aircooled parts and they are getting scarcer and they are getting pricier. If there was a little more competition between the air cooled suppliers because there were more of them, the prices might not get so steep. Spoke to more than one stall holder today and wouldn`t buy anything off them because of their superiorist attitude as in we got it and it`s loads of money because there ain`t another at the show. Some Early cab doors complete were north of five hundred and they were not beautiful doors. Engine lids fifty to two hundred and fifty etc etc etc. The syncro display was as awesome as ever, the Early Bay display on Saturday was an absolute delight, maybe a few more would have helped, had about a dozen I reckon. I got worn out walking around because it`s so big. But Sunday was a peach of a day, had icecreams from the split ice cream fella and my mouth is watering just thinking about them. All in all. I think much betterer if you camp there :mrgreen: I think you immerse into it more. Great to see everyone and a huge thanks to those that helped with the emergency with me leaving a box of Stella at home in the freezer :shock: :shock: :shock: Some more donations of all sorts from Stella to Peroni were forthcoming to save the day. The new cool box ideas are starting to work so it`s wonderful and cold Stella all the time so long as I remember to pack all of it not just some of it :roll:

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I`ll put my name down for next year :mrgreen:

 

[monkeyvanwestybike]

If I remember correctly The original show
Was ran by The Type2 owners club and called vanfest?
And was for Type 2 vans
And then there was some sort of internal politics problem

 

[ozziedog]

If I remember correctly The original show
Was ran by The Type2 owners club and called vanfest?
And was for Type 2 vans
And then there was some sort of internal politics problem

Reckon you might be right. I`ll leave the politics to others I think It`s one of the biggest shows in the world I think, maybe even the biggest. I know biggest ain`t always best, but bigger usually means more variety so most peeps will find some stuff they like and stay away from stuff you don`t like :mrgreen:

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Easy when you think about it :mrgreen:

 

[messer]

Yeah, I agree with previous posts, I'll not bother again ( and I only live round the corner ) £15 for entry into a glorified car boot , a lot of non van tut for sale, hardly any auto jumble, and lots of aftermarket plastic/ tinny metal parts ( which will never ever fit or last) . The VW scene just seems to be about making money, it's such a shame. The only show in my opinion which is about the car,van,bus,etc is Stanford Hall, you see amazing VW vehicles there and loads of auto jumble, and a tenner for a quality all day show. All in all a wasted day, ( mind you I was gone in hour and half, had a good coffee tho' ! )

 

[sharman]

Yeah, I agree with previous posts, I'll not bother again ( and I only live round the corner ) £15 for entry into a glorified car boot , a lot of non van tut for sale, hardly any auto jumble, and lots of aftermarket plastic/ tinny metal parts ( which will never ever fit or last) . The VW scene just seems to be about making money, it's such a shame. The only show in my opinion which is about the car,van,bus,etc is Stanford Hall, you see amazing VW vehicles there and loads of auto jumble, and a tenner for a quality all day show. All in all a wasted day, ( mind you I was gone in hour and half, had a good coffee tho' ! )

Agree with you pal. No bargains to be found. Stanford is my favourite show and not lost the feeling after all those years I've been going. Can you imagine zombies on chains being dragged around Stanford :lol: Guess each to their own and I can see the attraction of camping with mates at a big show like busfest with all the entertainment on.
Just wonder if there's anymore decent shows left this year?

 

[sparkywig]

Can't remember anything that happened before about 5ish on Saturday evening......
Got told off by a trader for making rude words out of his letters display.
It was cold Saturday night.
That's about it.

 

[Clem]

If I remember correctly The original show
Was ran by The Type2 owners club and called vanfest?
And was for Type 2 vans
And then there was some sort of internal politics problem

Essentially, yes. It is still for Type 2 vans, it's just there are only 2 generations of aircooled vans out of the 6 that exist now

 

[Bundy]

Enjoyed it again...good to meet up with some friendly earlybayers again.
Agree there was a severe shift to T5's this year, but will still go as we always have a good time and I even managed to pick up a couple of bits I needed.
Would be nice if the food/drink/fairground was not so expensive...but guess they have a captive audience... :roll:
Hopefully I'll actually be back in the bus next year!
Cheers
Al

 

[Graham L]

I visited yesterday as we decided not to trade this year partly due to last year we did very little business as an Aircooled trader, traders will not turn up to shows where they will not do business as its not just the expense of the stand but its the time lost away from the workshop/shop. Thats why JK and heritage only run a small operation with online ordering available at these shows and nothing else.

I actually had a good time as I met with a few fellow traders and we did some business, it was good as because I didnt have a stand I wasnt in a rush to get back to it in case I missed customers. Would i trade at Busfest again, NO and heard at the weekend that people like Stateside will not trade next year. Part of this is down to the organisers, I had to chase and chase for paperwork and then you get constantly told it must be in your 'spam' folder which it isnt. The attitude of the trade stand manager is really bad and he argues with you and its puts people off, hence why no Hayburner or Volksheaven this year or ever again from what i understand.

I know of people who asked to trade and were turned away because the trade area was full, if thats the case why was the Avon Hall half empty again and the Wyre halls had lots of empty spaces so some blame for there being a lack of traders as to be put on the organisers themselves.

Having run an aircooled show for 2 years in 14 & 15 its hard to get traders to attend and even harder to get aircooled owners to show up with their vehicles so if people put on aircooled events then its up to all of us to support them, as previously said unfortunately traders will only turn up if its worth their while so if we dont turn it up its not.

 

[sharman]

Can't remember anything that happened before about 5ish on Saturday evening......
Got told off by a trader for making rude words out of his letters display.
It was cold Saturday night.
That's about it. [/
I think that trader might've been cool campers also selling an earlybay in green. Nice guy and we bought a couple of letters from him. But I could see the temptation to spell rude words like c*** :msn4:

 

[user 20815]

Can't argue with any of this. Did manage to get some bits and had an interesting conversation with my 5 and 8 year olds about zombies on chains and uncle fester playing a mobile piano. The show didn't feel as friendly this year some how. Could have been the weather.
Definitely going next year though and will try staying on site. Does earlybay have a club section to stay in?

 

[Gwar72]

I enjoyed the weekend but thought that the stage in the main hall was rather low..?? Queen act on Saturday, we thought it was a Queen midget tribute act and that they only had one beer crate to stand on between them...!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Mucka]

We were there all weekend, the weather was a bit of a let down but it was still pretty good, agree about the amount of t5s there.

There must of been a builder's convention on the same time.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[sparkywig]

If I remember correctly The original show
Was ran by The Type2 owners club and called vanfest?
And was for Type 2 vans
And then there was some sort of internal politics problem

Essentially, yes. It is still for Type 2 vans, it's just there are only 2 generations of aircooled vans out of the 6 that exist now

It does say it's "The World's Largest VW Transporter Festival", and the last time I looked it said Transporter on the back of my T6.