Working on the visitor's guide for Waterfest 13, that you'll find stapled into the center pages, got my juices flowing for the big event.
There's nothing like a big VW show to get you excited about starting a new project, and there's no VW show bigger than Waterfest. Where else can you get so much inspiration in one day?
Without doubt, Waterfest is the premiere VW show in the USA. Its size, huge crowds and the quality of cars definitely rank it as one of the best on the world.
Each year, organizers manage to create a special atmosphere that's relaxed yet competitive. The mixture of show and go hits just the right balance. Plus, the venue is the perfect size with all the amenities you require.
In short, I love it and wouldn't miss it. If you feel the same, why not join us on Kreuzerfest - our annual tour to the event. We leave on Friday morning from points north and south of the venue. After a lunch stop, we all arrive at Englishtown Raceway, where Kreuzers are invited to take a few laps of the road course to clear the cobwebs before hitting the sack early in preparation for Saturday's activities.
While we're guaranteed to see the very best new project cars and the latest tuner parts, the only real uncertainty in recent years has been the weather. It seems to provide a combination of shirt-drenching humidity followed by life-threatening floods. But it all adds to the flavor, in my opinion.
One question Waterfest raises is, why can't we organize anything similar on the left coast? There have been many attempts, but all seem to fall short or fail completely. The Waterfest concept has a purity that's allowed it to survive into its thirteenth year. Yet, I suspect there's also patience on the part of the organizers that's missing among their West Coast counterparts. To create a Waterfest takes years of mistakes, lessons learned and improvements introduced. But it also demands a consistency of approach, attractions and venue.
To those attempting to create a show of this proportion, we offer our support and encouragement. While we only have a small team and are unable to visit every show across the country, we encourage you to use our resources: promote your event in our editorial and online calendar, then send us a report and photos afterwards so we can publish the results. Hopefully this will help get the message out and we're happy to be involved.
So pull out the Waterfest 13 fan's guide (carefully fold the staples back so the mag doesn't fall apart) and remember to register well in advance for any Waterfest events you might be interested in. Since most are filled early, you don't want to be disappointed.
We'll be wandering the Raceway as usual to record the events and bring you the best cars. Don't miss our October issue for the full report - we're planning to make our coverage even bigger than last year. We plan to also have an online gallery at eurotuner.com a few days after the show.
As usual, we'll be looking for feature cars at the show to photograph for the magazine. So if you drive something that deserves the recognition, make sure to tell us about it. Stop by and find us at our regular booth.
Oh and apologies again for discontinuing the pull-out poster from the last few issues. We hope to restore it as soon as possible.