symcro
Well-known member
Here is a bit of an reminder of how things went at and after our first "re-born" Vanfest & how things are progressing towards the next one.....
For more info (and to make your bookings go to our website)
www.vanfest.org
“A FAMILY FUN WEEKEND EVENT FOR FANS & ENTHUSIASTS OF ALL TYPES OF VANS”
Last year (2016) we “tested the water” & held the first “re-born” VANFEST event at Malvern.
What a fantastic start we had...........
A VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO SUPPORTED US IN 2016
Brilliant weather and a very chilled atmosphere with some wonderful people and vehicles gave us a very good idea of what we can ALL achieve if we can get a lot more like minded people, clubs and van enthusiasts together in one place.
And yes, although the event was predominately attended by Volkswagen owners there was also a good sprinkling of other makes of van as well which certainly took us part way to our primary goal of making the new VANFEST an event for ALL makes of van.
The support, feed back and comments from those of you who attended our first event (especially our Traders) have been very positive and encouraging & if we manage to maintain and build on that then our next VANFEST will be VANTASTIC (and a lot easier to do knowing now that we have got some pretty good foundations to build on!)
For some of us it was a bit of a learning curve, and took us right back to our roots to when we first launched the “Original” Vanfest. We were pitching it to be a much smaller event as we only had use of part of the showground (amazingly the exact same area we used way back in 1994!).
It was also a case of sitting back and see what happens. For the first time (for us) in many years we were producing an event where we did not have a good feel for what numbers might attend as we had not sold out of camping space. This did cause us much anguish as we had to make sure we had space facilities, services, catering and entertainment in place or an unknown number of van fans that might attend as campers or Day visitors.
In the event although we did have a fantastic event with good (and much appreciated support from the trade and day visitors, we did not get the anticipated (or hoped for) massive pick up of pay/arrive on the day campers arriving at the event needed to sustain the event and fell well short of our target camping figures.
This was not unexpected & as is usually the case with launching most new ventures. We did not expect to make it big with the first event, but there again we did not expect to take quite a big hit as we have & are hoping that this year better advanced camping numbers will ensure that the new VANFEST event remains established.
LESSONS LEARNED FROM VANFEST 2016.
• We now have the means, enthusiasm, and a chance to establish a NATIONAL EVENT for ALL Van owners (Classic & Modern) at a Quality SHOWGROUND venue. BUT we need COMMITMENT from everyone to ensure it happens
• The THREE COUNTIES SHOWGROUND is the best venue in the country for staging our event (whatever the weather). With excellent fixed indoor (and outdoor) facilities, good drainage, lighting and tarmac roadways we know you will have a good time when you are with us.
• VANFEST will (initially) continue to be small and compact using the same areas as in 2016 (and expand northwards as & when required) this will keep costs (and ticket prices low).
• We will try and integrate it more with the GIANT FLEA FAIR event which is also held at the show ground on the Bank Holiday Monday so campers (and Traders) at our event have the option of stopping over and enjoying a 3 day weekend
• If we are going to establish, (and keep) VANFEST going at MALVERN then we must not over commit ourselves (financially) on the next event.
• We MUST have a much better idea of likely camping numbers likely to attend. To do this we can only rely on ADVANCE BOOKING NUMBERS and we need to have a good indication of likely turnout on camping numbers as soon as possible so we can get the right balance of showground services and entertainment in place.
• SO, to encourage you ALL to make your decisions to come to VANFEST a lot earlier (and save yourselves some money), we will be selling EARLY BIRD TICKETS for the first 500 camping units that book. These tickets will be kept/set at the same prices as last year (£30 per adult & £20 per Camping unit).
• EARLY BIRD TICKETS will be on offer up until that total is reached (or the end of February). After that we will have to increase our prices To; £35 Per Adult & £20 per camping unit.
• BOTTOM LINE IS THIS....We are asking for continued support from those of you who came to see us for the first time last year (especially our traders who all took the same risks as us last year) AND we are also asking for is EARLY COMMITMENT from those of you who might be thinking about coming (but have not yet made up your minds). In return if we know we are likely to achieve our target numbers then we will be able to ensure that we get the right balance of services and entertainment in place AND ensure that we will be able to grow the event into the future.
VANFEST FEES FOR 2017
EARLY BIRD TICKETS (FIRST 500 CAMPING UNITS)
• CAMPING ADULT - £30 PER ADULT
• CAMPING UNIT - £20 PER UNIT (7M X 7M) PLOT
NORMAL PRICE TICKETS
• CAMPING ADULT - £35 PER ADULT
• CAMPING UNIT - £20 PER UNIT (7M X 7M) PLOT
• FLEA FAIR/SUNDAY NIGHT CAMPING - £10 PER ADULT
• DAY VISITOR - £10 PER ADULT
• CHILDREN UNDER 16 – FREE ENTRY
• EVENING ENTERTAINMENT IS FREE -
AND
THERE ARE NO EXTRA BOOKING. POSTAGE OR DELIVERY FEES
8)
