So, What happened at Rumblefest over the Weekend

We drove up on Friday evening, and there was not too much happening. Not a ton of cars, but some nice ones. I am wondering how it picked up on Saturday and Sunday? The grounds seemed nice and there should be a lot of potential for this to grow. I would not rule out giving it another try, but the weekend was already booked with the WSRA show in Fond du Lac.

 

corn roast in fondy i have to admit is where i would have been. My wife is ready to have our baby anyday so that puts a stop to car shows for a bit lol

 

my lady and i went Saturday afternoon. We just missed the races and hot laps. The cars seemed ok. seemed like more rat rods than traditionals. all were pretty cool though. It all seemed a bit of a hodge podge of cars and swap meet venders all mixed together. The bands seemed pretty good. i got a bit of a feeling of disorganization. However it worked out. I'm confident it will be better next year.

 

I could'nt go any where.I broke my ankle a week ago.It sucks to because I can't drive it's my right foot.So I've been living off of everybody elses photo's.So keep'um coming.

 

should have stayed home, $3 beer ridiculous. not many cars and everything was all mixed together.

music was good though

 

Its never easy for a first time show, especially on a big weekend like this. I have to say that I was a bit dissapointed, but would give it another shot in the future, especially since I hope to be driving my Vicky by then.

 

Rick and the crew did a great job for a new FIRST TIME SHOW!! The bands were great and could rival any in the mid-west..I rode shot gun in Waynes 32 and got in on some hot laps Sunday afternoon..OHHH WHAT A RUSH..Our sales were good and the food was out of this world they had great activities for all ages...including a bouncy castle for kids and a pin up contest for the Dads..I look forward to a long relationship between Kellys Hot Rod parts and the crew of Rumblefest....The car count could of been better but did you ever see 500 cars at a first time show in Wisconsin?? I consider Rumblefest to be a success and cant wait to see whats in store for next year...

 

I went for the day on Saturday. For the most part, I had a good time. Bought a few things in the swap meet, watched some cars go around the dirt track, seeing the Trashmen play in person was cool, and "Crankshaft" the one-man band was really good. A pinup contest is always cool too, although this one was pretty small/short.

I'd probably go again next year, at least for a day, especially if they continue to have a big name band play.

A couple things I will mention in the "constructive criticism" column is that my car and the one in front of me got very hot waiting in line for wristbands, I boiled over once I'd parked. Granted, that can be a problem at any show, but I couldn't figure out what the holdup was.

The other thing was that I had assumed this was going to be a strictly-traditional type show with criteria for the cars, which it clearly was not. Not necessarily a bad thing I guess, just not what I was expecting.

 

my friend gave me a positive report. He was pleased that the criteria wasn't strict, as he likes a variety of cars. I hope it isn't on Labor Day weekend next year so I can go.

 

The other thing was that I had assumed this was going to be a strictly-traditional type show with criteria for the cars, which it clearly was not. Not necessarily a bad thing I guess, just not what I was expecting.[/QUOTE]

I had a good time at the show but was disappointed also when I saw Camaros, Mustangs, and late model Corvettes. They didn't seem to fit in. I heard a lot of others commenting on their presence too. Hopefully that will be changed for next year. All of the bands were great, and I especially enjoyed "Crankshaft" the one man band. I will attend again next year.

 

Hats off to a great first show!! My boy loved it. He said "boy dad, this isnt like all the other shows you take me to." Duece of Spades had a nice turnout. The surf bands playing while the cars were out on the dirt gave it a special feel... The music was excellent all weekend! Ill be back for sure....

 

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Lovely young wife treated me to a Friday Night at the Midgets! Closeby, down 99 40 miles...we got 2 large beers...the lady said, "Eighteen dollars, please..." I nearly fell down.

But they were 20 ounce beers...nine dollars each?

Midgets were O.K., but on asphalt it was like a Sunday drive. (I see busier traffic in town all week around here!)

 

Jeez call me old fashioned but I cant really remember the price of beer being in any discussions about auto shows when I was a kid in the 60's...Just what the world needs is another beer party with show cars or "traditional hot rods" involved..If you attend these shows for the cars, music or atmosphere great but judging the success of a show by the price of its beer really seems shallow....I think having a show open to a variety of cars makes sense..Many traditional car owners have friends who's cars wont fit in all show venues so why make these guys sit out,
let them hang together for the weekend and enjoy themslves...

 

I was there Friday, left at 6:30 pm, about 30 participant cars on the grounds. Missed the movie, seen it a while back, and missed the music.

On Saturday, when I left at 2:30pm, the car count on the grounds was about 200. The music and the dirt track action that, I heard and saw were entertaining and enjoyable.

During my time there, if the event had enforced the so called "traditional criteria", the cars that would have been allowed in the event Friday would have been less than 10 and on Saturday would have been less than 50.

Kinda glad about the relaxing of the criteria, my chopped top pickup got me into the event and the event got my $15.00, win, win.

The food and beverage prices were reasonable, didn't drink beer.

The swap meet had about 40 vendors, a good mixture of 50's and 60's parts

As for Saturday eve and Sunday at Rumblefest, I can't speak to that, I went to the Fond du lac rod & custom Corn Roast.

Had, I been able to locate the correct Rumblefest event organizer, I would have asked "why they had Rumblefest at the same time as another 3 day car event, the Corn Roast?". The Corn Roast has been held on Labor Day weekend for 41 years and less than 100 miles from Rumblefest. The Corn Roast is the longest, continuous running outdoor hot rod show in Wisconsin. I don't know if either event took participants or spectators away from the other event.

I hope Rumblefest was successful enough for the event to continue, I would attend, again. I hope they can change the date, then, I won't have to miss parts of any event.

Curt R

 

Our band played at 2pm on Sunday and had a great turn out. We had a few requests which is always fun. The sound of cars on the track behind us was really cool.

I didn't mind the mix of cars. Plus it was nice to see different cars. I had no problem with the vendor and car layout.

I drove my ratty Mustang to a 'cars and coffee' on Saturday and the 600-700 cars does require a bit of order.

Rumblefest was a nice show. Maybe smaller than shows in the Twin Cities (we get 800+ cars at a weekly Friday night show) but I'm sure next year Rumblefest will be even bigger.

 

The show was advertised as honoring the "Golden Age" of hot rodding. Specifically mentioned traditiional rods and customs built prior to 1965 and said NO Mustangs. Sounds like it would have been a complete failure if these later cars were not let in. Just your common everyday car show. Count me out.

 

3$ beer is cheap out here on the west coast. My local dirt track charges 8$ for a big block beer 20oz. I tell all my buddies they better enjoy the races while they can cause someday they will not be there. Last fullframe production sedan came down the assembly line in 88'.

 

I guess I can address some of the problems we had over the weekend...

Yeah we had a non-traditional mix of cars... I had lined up a couple guys to help me sort them out at the gate but no one showed. I had to rely on a fella who had good intentions but was short on hot rod knowledge... that will be fixed next year. I was forced to spend much of the day trying to groom the race track and repair an ailing BBC in a 36 year old water truck rather then greeting the participants and getting the cars in the right parking areas...

The $3 beer was a decision I made. The fair charges $2.50 for a 12 oz cup... we used a 14 oz cup... seemed like a good compromise in price and quantity. I didn't think 50 cents would make a big impact but I did hear a few bitches...something has to pay for the rent, entertainment, insurance, etc. Many multi-day shows don't offer a one day pass but I did... anyone who wanted to go for one day got by with a $6 or $8 ticket which is pretty cheap for an event with a headliner like The Trashmen... and we did have reasonable food prices in our food stand. Every show has to turn a profit or it will disappear...

Now about the date... the Rumblefest date was chosen from five available spots on the fairgrounds schedule when we negotiated the lease last year. My other choices were putting on my show during BTTF's (St Paul, MN), The Shakedown (16 miles), the Iola Old Car Show (12 miles away) or a local community event that draws 10,000 people 15 miles down the road. The Wisconsin Street Rod Association "corn roast" can stand on it's own... it's 75 miles away... and it's had four decades to get established and certainly shouldn't worry about my little event... and it's a different crowd anyway although I did have several street rods in the mix at Amherst that passed on the Corn Roast saying it was time for a change.

We had an "official" 160 cars come thru the gates not counting some late comers or really blatantly non-traditional cars. We mixed the show cars, camping and swap spaces together into a small area so the spectators had a feeling the grounds were full... and that area pretty much was filled. I have more acreage available to me if I feel the need to move the swap or camping areas.

I wanted the swap "up close and personal" to try make it a bigger part of the event so I merged it with the camping area... I doubt I'll have enough room to do that next year. Come 2013 I'll do a better job of keeping the non-traditional cars from the main show area. We'll have a full blown dirt track racing program one night and more great entertainment.

I'd like to thank all of you who came over and gave Rumblefest a try...

 

I understand the problems of a new event. But where are the pixs?

 

When I was there on Saturday until about 2:30, there were only (2) Mustangs, no Camaros, and one late '70s Vette.......these cars were really not abundant as some are making out.....I left my own '69 Mustang at home for this show...

All in all a pretty decent turn out for a first year. The band I heard were above par, and really good. Crankshaft was original and very good one man show...

I will be there next year.
Tom

 

So.. here's my two cents for what's it worth.
Went to Rumblefest Friday afternoon, getting there about 3:30PM. Not much going on but I did find some cool stuff for a good price at the swap meet. As the evening came on the always fantastic Kevin Fayte Rock & Roll Trio put on a killer two hour marthon of classic Rockabilly. We didn't get to see the next band as the "outdoor" movie started at dusk. There was a real good turnout for the movie but I suspect a lot of townies showed up judging by the number of cars in the spectator parking lot. On Saturday there were were about 150 cars (a mixed lot of traditional and non-traditional cars). There were several food vendors selling some really good chow. Again the music was great. The Honeybees put on a great show as did Carmen Lee and the Tennesee River Two. I didn't see the surf bands but they sounded good from a distance. The vintage modifieds also put on a good show. We had to leave at 4:00 to go to a party in Milwaukee so that's all she wrote for us.
To sum it up..........I thought this was a really decent first time show. Yea..there were some problems (like not having a band line-up sheet until Saturday morning) but overall a good first time attempt.
I agree with Curt R. that it could have been on a different weekend than the WSRA Cornroast. I've been going to that show for 40 years and probably would have stopped by on Sunday if I could have. The problem is that so many of the Cornroast devotees are committed to that show that you could have the second coming of Buddy Holly and Gene Vincent at Rumblefest and they would still go th the Cornroast!!
So let's cut Rumblefest a little slack. How many of you remember the first couple of years of the Hunnert Car Pile-up when it was at Marty's Body Shop in Sycamore. The first year, if I recall right, they had about 50 cars. And see what that grew into!!
STUDEDUDE (although I had my red '55 Chevy at Rumblefest).

 

Krooser,sounds like you had a good show, even with close competition shows. Everybody making good comments except one ass with a Mustang gripeing about the cost of beer. Congrats on a good 1st show !

 

x 2

 

Thanks to all for the encouragement.

I had three photographers on site for the show... still waiting for some pix.

Stay tuned...

 

Here's a few pix I got from John Surges of the Vintage Modified Racing group...

 

the Trashmen?? Too cool, that alone is worth twice the entry fee.

 

Beer must be cheeper in wisconsin if you complain about a 3 dollar draw. Wish I coulda made it. Sounds like a cool show.

 

Damn krooser---- you were really gettin that water truck sideways in the corners!!!

 

I have a few

 

I haven't paid 3 bucks for a beer since elementary school...sigh.