In response to my angry e-mail, I received this explanation of the rubbish VW show I attended on Sunday:
For several years previously Vintage and Classic Events has run a successful VW show at Donnington Park , usually in the Autumn months, but for the last couple of years, it has been extremely difficult to secure suitable dates at Donnington, so we decided to try and create a new show at Stoneleigh Park, which has far better facilities to offer. Last weekend was therefore a "first" show for us at Stoneleigh for VW’s. However, from the size of the mini show, you can see we are normally successful show organisers. I can assure you just as much effort and cost was put into the VW show as the Mini, with regard to advertising, contacting VW specialists and clubs etc.
We were not helped by the fact that clubs and traders contacted us saying they would like to be there, reserved pitches, and then either pulled out on the Saturday, or just did not turn up to the event. You will note that at 11.30 (I was back home by then) a sign was displayed at the entrance to the exhibition hall, stating the show was 90% mini orientated due to the amount of "no shows" we had experienced that morning. I am saddened by the fact, that so many of the traders and clubs we have seen at Donnington in the past had not the courtesy to contact us to say they would not be attending, but also disgusted that they had so little consideration for the VW enthusiasts.
A refund and apology has been offered and gratefully accepted. It looks like VCE were shafted as well so once the cheque arrives I’ll no longer wish bad things happen to them.
I still say Stoneleigh is an excellent venue for this sort of event and hope they have another more successful go. Earlier in the year would make sense to avoid clashing with Easter – perhaps this explains why the attendance of clubs and trade was so low. Since they have provided an excellent response I’ll give it another go.
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