After 7 great years at our old location, we have packed up and moved to a larger, nicer facility...one with more history and a better layout for our event. Just as cool a venue, with much more to offer everyone. Closer and easier to find for most participants and a much better support town for hotels, food and family activities. The 2016 Shakedown is located at the EAA Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, WI. www.symcoshakedown.com Aug 10-13, 2016 We are incorporating a vintage airplane museum with our show and using not only the museum, but the significantly large and nice campground and nature center as the backdrop for the rest of the event. Our new facility has everything we have had the last seven years and more! We not only have a cool backdrop of the nature center and airport museum hanger displays, but Oshkosh has a lot to offer. More room, nicer professional facility and no MUD. Last year was a mess with over 2" of rain our first day! We are not changing the layout of our event, the quality music, quality hot rods and customs or the schedule. However, we have the room now, so we can do a few things we have not been able to do in the past. We are giving away another car this year. A 1950 Chevy. 100% of the proceeds goes to the Beja Shriners of Green Bay. $10 a chance, 2500 tickets max. Some additions for this year: •We have an extra day of setup - come as early as 8am Wednesday, Aug 10th. FREE events that day. •Daily camping spaces available. Come one day or four. •Camping spaces are flat, dry and most are shaded. All are easy to get in and out of. We have over 3000 camp spaces to grow into. •We have near 400 sites with power/water hookups plus more available when we expand. •Newer bathroom facility with flush toilets and over 70 shower stalls. •Swap meet is much larger, not only space size, but larger area for swap. It is flat, dry and many sites have shade. •Show car area is nearly all shaded. Most cars park in the Nature center around a gorgeous pond. Plus much more room than we have had in the past. •We have a large, grassy lot for parking not HAMB approved vehicles. They no longer have to park in mud and dirt or the side of the road. You can feel part of the event if you don't have a traditional hot rod or custom. We welcome all show vehicles. •We have 6,000 square feet of indoor vendors and dozens more commercial vendors outside. Many new vendors this year. •There are hundreds of park benches and picnic tables to sit and relax on. •Expanded food options on site, plus dozens of places to eat within 5 minutes from the facility. •Schlitz and Pabst are sponsoring the show, so no shortage of retro beer for those who partake in our party. •Two main stages and two secondary stages with around 20 bands...just like I have always done. •Our venue is running trams to move people between sections of the show. 8am-close both days of the car show. It is not needed, but the venue has these resources and offered them to us. •Vintage bike riding is encouraged and a bike show and rides this year. •Golf carts are allowed on site with proof of insurance. •Larger area for mini bike races and flame throwing. •Vintage camping area is much larger, spaces are larger, more shade and easier to get in and out of. No restrictions on what you can tow your vintage camper in with. •Cleaner facility. For those who didn't like the dust, dirt and mud, we have all nice grass and paved roads. You can bring your shiny, detailed ride and not have to worry about it getting a half inch of dirt on it, or getting stuck in the mud. Bonuses - •The EAA Museum has a WWII nose art exhibit going on. With show wristband, you can get in for only $6. It takes 2-4 hours to go through the entire museum. Longer if you read all the displays. •Military Veterans Museum a half a mile down the road. •Two vintage planes giving rides, plus a vintage Bell 47 Helicopter. 1928 Tri-Motor Ford and a 1929 Bi-plane. •Two historic drive-ins located in town. One close to the show and has been in business for 68 years! •Those with planes can fly into Whitman Field for our event. There are at least two companies offering FBO services. •Uber and taxi service available to and from the show grounds. New for this year... We have a VERY period correct display. No disc brakes, no 350's, no radial tires...only the true era hot rods and period customs. Race cars, motorcycles and other vehicles considered for this display as well. We have reserved the space in front of the hangers for this. They will be staged with 1950 and older planes as a display of what really is era correct. There is a mix of new builds and original hot rods. If you have a vehicle that fits this bill, and would like to display it, please contact us via PM or email [email protected]. We are hosting a reception on Thursday, Aug 11 from 6-7:30pm for those who bring a ride for this section. You will get free admission for the weekend and camping space if needed. We ask that you bring your vehicle for setup by 6pm, Aug 11 and keep it on constant display until Aug 13 until after our awards ceremony about 7pm on Saturday evening. We have security 24/7 on site. This is an exciting move for us and we are having a lot of fun planning the show this year. We hope you can join us, even if it is only for one day! Please send us a message if you have any questions. Some pics of our facility:
Talk around here is the contract to secure the grounds has not happened due to some financial problems. theres also talk of a court battle that didn't do to good. can anyone confirm the show is even on.
Since I posted the show the day you reply with a bunch of garbage drama, I would assume, yes, it is happening. "Talk around here"?...What about actually asking the person that has put on this show since 2009? Spending gossip and drama is pretty lame. You must not look at our website or Facebook page, we post daily updates and announcements about the show. I have been to the Scrap Drive, TorqueFest and a dozen other shows this year. We have handed out over 20,000 flyers and postcards to date. The show is certainly on and we have more vendors signed up than we ever have had. Besides the fact that my finances are NONE of yours or anyone else's business....If anyone needs to question the truth to any rumors they hear....do you think I can secure a first class, professional venue such as the EAA if we had financial or other issues? If I had financial issues, how could I afford, or even get the chance to secure, such a quality venue? We are parking hot rods next to expensive vintage aircraft. These people don't take risks. We held 7 shows in Unionville. If there were issues with us, they would have came out long ago. The slander on us is because we are successful and the people staying at our old location can't compete with us on a professional level. They have to resort to drama and slander to try to make people think they are better. It is all smoke and mirrors to skirt away from the fact that these people have issues they don't want to become public. All we want to do is put on a kick ass hot rod show. Having to respond to a bunch of bullshit from someone like yourself is ridiculous....get back in the garage and build something. Stop worrying about someone else's business. But since you brought it up... Our court case is going just fine. It is far from over. We are protecting our business and our rights to our intellectual property. The person we are fighting doesn't even understand what it is about. They are impersonating us, and we have full legal rights to the business we have built over the last 7 years. We had to explain what is actually happening to him in court. He agreed to sign some paperwork in front of the judge, which would have brought a lot of this to a close, but he didn't actually do it when we sent it to him...so it will be drug out until this fall. We expected to be ignored, since it seems to be a common theme from this person with his legal responsibilities. Our court case turned a temporary injunction to a permanent one, so I would have to say that it went just fine for us. If it was fluff or fake, they would have dismissed the case...but it is not and we are going to trial in a few months. Sad thing is that when we win, which we will, we are on the end of a long list of people they owe money to. Can't squeeze blood from a turnip. We had a contract for 2016 from our old location and it was horrible. Beside them wanting a large cut of our revenue, with nothing in return, on top of the 100K they already make off our event...They do not have ANY property insurance! We have had some really close calls up there over the years. We were lucky, but luck can't last forever. When we found out they are uninsured, we did everything we could to get it changed. They refused strongly, even after we offered to pay the annual premium! We were told numerous times that it was a waste of money, they don't want people to know what they have there and since they have never had insurance, they don't need it. Crazy stupid reasons not to spend a couple grand to protect everyone. Really sad that if someone gets hurt outside our own show liability policy, that they will have to flip the bill themselves. Not to mention if a tornado or a fire comes through that property that there is no money to rebuild. We want to put on a SAFE, professional event and could no longer do that at our old location. This is a site about hot rodding, keep it that way. No more garbage talk.
What hotel are you booked at? I am curious to find out where everyone ends up. We have a dozen in town to pick from, almost all of them are really nice. I actually think that most are less expensive than the ones 20 minutes away from the old location. I know most of them jacked rates up the last few years on us.
AmericInn. Damn near across the street. My bro's got a room too. Blew the trans in my '39 (standard tudor, red w/ flames & flathead) & haven't gotten to it yet. Trying to get my '63 wagon done enough to bring it. If not, then the Merc always seems to run. Can't wait.
Perfect!! AmericInn has the best ratings out of all the hotels right there. about as close as you can get to the show. There are two great places to eat right there. Friar Tucks and The Charcoal Pit...however the food we have on site this year is awesome. Besides Vicky's lunch wagon returning, we have The Machine Shed serving real food and A&W serving food and all their yummy other stuff. Plus more. If you need trans parts, I know several people who can help you. I'm rebuilding one right now as well and they are a piece of cake.
Have fun in Symco, the show moved. Sorry if we upset a few people, but having a safe event is more important than where it is held. It won't take long after you arrive there to realize that it is FAR from the same event...but a first year event trying to copy what we have done the last seven years. The only thing the "same" is the location. No Vicky's Lunch Wagon...she is in Oshkosh. None of my food vendors stayed there. No Old Skool Rods, no Keep the Bitch Floored, no Atomic Katz, no Retro Relics, no Uffdah, no Rock N Roll Land...and I can keep the list going through all of my commercial vendors....they are registered for Oshkosh. Plus a lot of new ones. Hop Up magazine will be in Oshkosh....and Marcy is printing our show shirts for the 8th year. You can already see that our artwork is the same, actually, better than ever.....Mike Tessmer has done it since 2010. Our music staff is the same. The One Night Standards, The MadPolecats, Dig Deep, The Krank Daddies, Twistin' Tarantulas, and many more of the SAME bands, plus new ones...in Oshkosh. Our staff coordinator....same and in Oshkosh. DOZENS of car clubs...in Oshkosh..including members of at least 5 of the clubs that are on the other shows list of "supporting" clubs. Nothing significant has stayed at our old location. Don't forget that the Beja Shrine also moved with us and we are giving away another car this year. The last seven years speak for my dedication to a quality event. The people following us speak for where the real "Symco" is this year. They copied and pasted near all of my website onto theirs. They can't even do an event on their own, they have to use photos from my last seven years to make you think it is the same. If that event was at a different location or date, it would not have the following it does. They have to con everyone to make them come. You have enjoyed my event for many years I can imagine...I would not move to a boring facility, nor one that was less than what we have had in the past. Our new venue is not lacking anything but mud, dust and dirt. Your post is made just to stir up drama and has nothing to do with the event that we have done for the last SEVEN years. We left because the facility has no insurance...so you are supporting a venue that has no desire to put on a professional and safe event. We were not willing to risk seven years of hard work to have it flushed down the toilet over the lack of a very affordable insurance policy. Maybe that doesn't mean anything to you, but safety is important to us.
Dont see how my post stirs up drama... I just love the grounds at Symco, just my preference.. cant be two places at once. Again, good luck!
We love it too. But a piece of property alone does not make a successful show. Many people have put in thousands of hours to make a good hot rod show there. You are disrespecting all of us who have worked hard to build the show by saying you do not support our move. We tried to stay, but the organization there is not willing to put on a safe event with us. You are right, you can't be in two places at once. If they didn't start a new show on the same weekend we have held our established event, you could have gone to both. On top of that, I'll bet you know little to nothing about our new location and how cool it is.
I say good luck to both shows. Both shows have the same thing in mind, cars, people and a good time. It sucks that it ended up this way but it is what it is. Good luck to both.
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