Event Coverage Advice on holding a show?

I held our small town show here, it was a smashing success, last weekend. Had 110 entries, and some non signups, for a total of 140 cars, pretty good for our little burg, my first attempt at holding a show, I gave away 65 prizes, all random draw, used the local legion for eats, all the money they make goes right back into the community, good deal for them as well.
What do you guys look for to bring you to a show? How can I make mine better and bigger? I would like to turn this into a major event, maybe a two dayer with bands and other attractions, but right now, gotta start small, raising the cash to hold a show in a small town is difficult to say the least, there aren't many sponsors, how do you guys do it?
I sold almost all of my tee shirts, I ordered 60, various sizes, got 15 left, my grand prize was a rollaway tool chest courtesy of one of the local parts suppliers, I felt good about the turn out, usually it's somewhere around a hundred, but I want more. Some of you do this stuff, got any tips?

 

Keep giving profits to local charity's, get local businesses to sponsor events and awards.

 

Haven’t been involved in a show (actually we used to do a rod run to a state park) in years but basically I’d say forget the two day deal, far too much work and volunteers get burned out easily.
We used to have good luck asking some of the hot rod parts manufacturers for a door prize, or even a certificate towards a purchase. Some will give catalogs, or maybe a few company t-shirts and Dick Williams who used to operate Poli-Form fiberglass always sent us a big box of heavy plastic bags with handles, they had his logo on them and were great for goodie bags.
Bands? That’s a tough one. You don’t want the volume too loud so it pisses people off. Hard rock? Probably not. Rockabilly? What kind of crowd do you typically draw? Maybe a band that does oldies, like ‘50’s through ‘80’s??? Hard to please everyone.

 

it's a trap!

We've been doing it for 30 years, attendance is going down, it's getting kind of the same old same old. Shake it up, do something different every year.

 

Find a place nearby for a swap meet. No charge for spaces. It adds to draw and a lot of people would not be there to spend money if not for the opportunity to sell some extra stuff and it gets the guys there that don’t have their car ready.

 

Forget the band.

Charlie Stephens

 

Super to hear that your show was a hit!
Swap meet gets my vote.

 

Where in bc? I think it would depend on how large the population is whether it could expand or not.

 

I am with the other guys who say make room for a swap meet. I am going to a show tomorrow and the only reason is because they usually have a decent swap meet. Looking at cars gets boring to me but looking for treasure in a swap meet tickles my innards.
And I also agree that you should scrap the band idea. The most common complaint I hear is the music is either too loud or the kind people don't want to hear, or both. If you do a band, how about someone who does acoustic so people can actually talk to each other without getting their ears blown out by deaf musicians who think that they need to be heard in the next town.

 

We will have our 42nd this year. In a town of about 5500. We had our largest show with 260 last year since the 80`s when car shows were few and far between. Our average is about 200. No bands, few people watch them. A 2 day event would limit who can attend both days.

 

Do you charge the car guys to enter?
Do you charge spectators?
I would assume you do it for a profit.
If everybody is paying OK if just the car guys are paying not a win win.

 

1951 and older.

 

I go to a couple of static shows, because I like to meet up with friends, walk around, and look at cars. But I generally prefer cruises, rod runs, whatever you want to call them. Think Hot Rod 100, Power Tour, that kind of thing. Events done for charity I’m happy to support. I’d drop the band idea, too hard to please everyone and too easy to piss them off.


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Be happy it went well. Run it as a small show again next to gauge interest. Popular once is easy....sustaining is tougher.
No band and a two day show is iffy if there is another show close the next day.

 

Thanks guys, I'm not basing interest on the good showing of my first, but more on becoming a community event. It's held in Princeton bc, a town of around 3500 in the area, very difficult to solicit local business, we have a music festival, rodeo, parades, something almost every month. I'm not in it for the dollar, I'll donate anything over the cost of putting on the show, a big screen tv for one of the old folks homes here will happen, I'm just looking for ideas to enlarge the show, or make it an attraction that will draw people for good reason. Maybe all home made prizes, still randomly drawn, some really cool artfully made stuff?
In the past, there's been a band during the show, but this year I changed it up with a dj, gave a lot of prizes, all wrapped in brown paper so guys wouldn't know what they won, everything from embroidered coveralls to regular coveralls, engraved thermos mugs, road safety kits, led flashlights (good ones), local meal vouchers, everything I could think of over a six month period.
The show is held in the town square and on the main drag, $15 entry per car, no entry for pedestrians, no way to control their access, vendors selling woman type stuff for the girls,
I'm looking for ideas.

 

DJs are overpaid , IMHO. Hundreds of dollars to hook their phone to a laptop at this point. A couple decent bands could be had at that money, and attendees didnt hear it on the radio on the way in, and the way out. Noone talks about a car show DJ. I do however still remember the burlesque show and bands from the bootlegger bash several weeks ago. 'Nuff said.

 

Be happy it was a success. Your in Princeton, not to be a dick... but you'll never have a big show like the Peach city cruise or something. Not knocking the area. I spend time in Tulameen.

 

Not looking for that, Penticton had 860 signups, that is a nightmare to manage, especially here. But I'm aiming for a consistent 200, enough to donate to some of the worthy causes here, and looking to have a different enough show that attendance remains consistent, something like hougen park does, I been going there more years than I can count. Just looking for ideas.

 

Maybe a poker run in the afternoon for car show participants, finish with a bbq?

 

Congrats on your first show. Before doing it again, reach out to those that attended (if you have contact info) and ask Them what They thought. They are your "customers" and a great way to get the word out. If the location works stay there, same with the date (check for conflicting events), and get the word out early. If future events warrant it, Then you can think about all the extras that you would like to do. Best of Luck in the future, Carp.

 

100-200 cars is a nice show. 2 or 3 people can manage it, with a couple more day of show. Bigger then that you will need a good team to keep things in control. A flea market is a good idea, remember that it will take at least 1 person dedicated to that if it gets past about 20 vendors. Food truck wars are a thing in my area. One show tried a bar-b-que cook off. That ticks a lot off because you can't eat what you smell. If you do that have some bar-b-que trucks so the crowd can eat what it smells.

 

Buy insurance!

 

I always liked the car shows that would pick top 50 cars there as opposed to putting cars in classes. Dash plaques are a must even if it is for the first 100 or so cars. No fee vending at a swapmeet will sometimes bring double the people to a show. Good music is great but don't blast it at full volume. Location is everything and will make or break a show in my opinion. The last thing most people want to do is to be on a hot parking lot with no shade. Back in the day when I was younger and was going to two shows a weekend, the trend was to give out huge trophies and the bigger the better. A friend of mine who used to put on an annual show bought into this trend and gave out trophies so tall the guys that won them couldn't fit them in their cars to take them home.

 

...give away cash prizes thru the day, everybody likes cash...

 

Ooooh ohhh......wet T-shirt contest!! For young girls only of course...
I meant young ladies......don't want to sound like a pervert.....

 

I don't pay to show my car.,..and never will again.

But I do sometimes get there early to help them set up at a free local cruise, and buy one of their shirts, or more often, buy their raffle tickets aa my way of supporting the show.

paying to show my car, when I was the one that built it too, makes no sense to me at all.

often, when trying, or doing bigger events, it ruins a nice local show as far as feeling down home, if that makes any more sense.

 

^^This... amen brother..

 

Agreed on the music. If I hear little deuce coupe, or hot rod Lincoln blasting at another car show, I swear to god I'll kill someone..well, maybe not, but you know what I mean...

 

65 prizes are way too many .getting any trophy will mean nothing when everybody gets one you might as well be giving out condoms

 

Don, I should have clarified that... I was speaking of a generic type car show or typical cruise show.

But, I should have zero'd in on the pure traditional hotrod and Kustom shows. These do not rely on spectator money to be able to survive and pay for renting the venues, and live musicians. Then, by all means, I certainly would pay the fee....like I do at a couple traditional shows I do go to. They cannot keep these great shows going on their dime..

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