Show N Shine season is almost here!

Part one in a series:

So you've decided you'd like to share your automotive passion at a Show and Shine! How do you find them? Which show or shows should you enter? Are there different kinds of shows? Is your car good enough? Over the next few posts we'll try and answer these questions and more based on our experience over the last couple of years.
 

Westiva, a local meet for Ford Festivas held annually. August 2017.

While a lot of shows are open there are a number that have restrictions or limitation on what vehicles can be exhibited. There are shows that are dedicated to a specific brand, others to an era or time span, and yet others to a nationality or geographic area. For example, the
Vintage Sports Car Club of Calgary's "European Classic Car Show" held each June is dedicated to European cars.

2012 European Classic Car Show. Photo courtesy of VSSSC.

Weekly cruise nights are often hosted by local restaurants, businesses or car clubs. For example, several A&W restaurants in Calgary do this. There's one close to our home that holds one every Wednesday evening during the summer. These are typically open to any and all kinds of cars, trucks and bikes.

At "Wild Wednesday" held at our local A&W

Euro Cars & Coffee, a meet hosted by the Alberta chapter of the Ferrari Club of North America, showcases European exotics and certain collector cars on Tuesday evenings over the summer.

At Euro Cars and Coffee June 2019

We've participated in a couple of annual events in the area. In May of 2019 we took part in the  Cochrane Spring Car Show and Shine. Bowness Auto Parts, a local business, hosts a show and shine each August. 

At the Bowness Auto Parts Show and Shine, August 2019

The Okotoks Show and Shine is also held in August and we went in that one for the first time in 2019. These shows were open to any and all kinds of vehicles.  

At the Okotoks Show and Shine, August 2019

Annual shows tend to be a little more formal and structured with awards and prizes. They are also more likely to have some kind of entry fee, but not all do. Those fees quite often are passed on to a charity or cause. Awards could be for a number of categories ranging from best of show at one end of the spectrum to best beater at the other end. Our Festiva won the "Fan Favorite" award at Festiva Madness this year!

In contrast the weekly events are a fairly relaxed and low key way to show your ride and usually don't have an entry fee. Some events require that you register in advance. We'd recommend that you do so well in advance in order to secure a spot, especially if there's a limit on the number of entries. 

Once you've decided what kind of show you'd like to attend how do you find out about it? An internet search will give you links to a few different car event calendars. Fellow enthusiasts and owners may have suggestions as will your local auto parts suppliers. There's lots of things to consider... time, location, costs, in town, out of town, what do I need to bring, what do we do during the show and more. Hopefully we can answer some of those questions in upcoming posts. 

In the meantime we'd love to hear your recommendations and ideas, use the comments section below and we'll pass them on in upcoming posts.