If you don’t already know, Wisconsin is an excellent place to live if you’re a car lover. Cities across the state host a wide variety of car and racecar-related events, shows, and festivals. One of the most popular annual car shows, the Automotion Classic Car Show Festival, is coming to the Dells again this 2020 on May 16th and 17th. The festival, which will be celebrating its 34th year of consecutive running, features over 1,200 classic cars from owners across the United States. Each year between 25,000 and 100,000 spectators attend the event, even drawing some famous celebrities who happen to be car-enthusiasts (Jay Leno came in 2017). Aside from classic cars, spectators can enjoy live music, tasty foods, a swap meet, awards ceremony, car corral, and a chance to learn cool things from passionate mechanics.
What will you see at the Automotion Festival?
The Automotion Classic Car Show Festival’s 1,200 car lineup includes classic cars older than 1989. The festival also hosts a memorable event called “Hollywood on Broadway,” which showcases recreations of famous cars featured in many different Hollywood films and TV shows. Past festivals have seen the appearance of the Mystery Machine from Scooby-Doo, Ecto 1 from Ghostbusters, and even a Jeep from Jurassic Park. This year’s show will also have more iconic vehicles, including the DeLorean from Back to the Future, the GMC Van from A-Team, the Batmobile, and much more. The most enticing aspect of this festival is that anyone with a classic car older than 1989 can come down and show it off! Thousands of spectators will have a chance to see your vehicle, learn its history and meaning to you, and ask questions about it!
Registration
The festival itself is entirely free to all people who plan to spectate. If you’d like to bring your car (and secure a good parking spot), you’ll need to register. Registration is only $10 ($15 if you wait until the day-of), and there’s a chance you can win cash, trophies, or an award! Pre-registering your vehicle guarantees you a parking spot at the show, as long as you register before 10 am on Saturday, May 16th. Keep in mind you’ll need to be present at the award ceremony on Sunday to receive an award!
Event Details
The event spans over two days—Saturday, May 16th, and Sunday, May 17th. Each day is chock full of different shows and activities, and gates open at 7:00 am. Saturday features concessions, an auto show, swap meet, car corral, a variety of kids activities, family face painting, and Hollywood on Broadway. The final day begins with many of the same events as Saturday’s, with the awards ceremony marking the end of the festival. If you’d like a more detailed overview of events and their exact times, check here. Also, remember that this festival draws a lot of attention from people across the country, so waiting until the last minute to find lodging is definitely something to avoid!
If you love everything about cars, or simply love music and food, be sure to come down to the Automotion Classic Car Show Festival this May! I hope to see you there!