Morris Minor Owners Club

I have just downloaded a form to show my car at an event aimed at raising money for a number of charities. The form asks for £5.00 per car plus £3.50 for each passenger just to display if paid in advance. On the day it is £15.00 per car plus £3.50 per passenger, public entry is £5.00 per person.

The practice of charging to display seems to be becoming more common and I personally don’t mind making a contribution, however the prices do seem to be creeping up and if we don’t bring our cars then there would be no show. What do others think?

Sorry but I'm a cynic and suspect only a small amount of the money charged will go to the charity with the rest being taken by "administration".
You'd probably be better making a donation of £5 direct to charity and spending the rest on fuel for a drive in the countryside.
I understand there are numerous expenses for hosting events but charging exhibitors (excluding their passengers) is exessive when there won't be a show if they don't turn up.

Paul Humphries

It's a common policy and I really dislike it.
The worst example I'm aware of is when the only people charged are those who bring a classic and every one else gets to walk in free!

Personally I think everyone should be charged entrance for a show, with a discount given to anyone bringing a classic. Anything else is just unfair on classic car owners.

This is my main gripe about car shows. I cannot get my head around this where the show organisers expect me to pay to exhibit MY car so they can then charge visitiors a fee to then view MY car.

As said above, if none of us bothered to turn up there would be no show. Exhibitors should get free entry.

totally agree, in the model railway "scene" the people who bring the layouts get fuel paid, accomodation (b&b/hotel) and often complementary admission x2
i can understand the cash flow aspect of it but it does seem like a bit of a raw deal for the classics owners.

It is true that most of these shows are held for Charity, and are organised admirably by either local volunteers or organisations such as the Lions and Rotary Clubs.

However exhibitors of any 'exhibit' be it classic vehicle, stationary engine, tractor etc., spend a lot of time and their own money preparing and getting to shows, and certainly all our local show organisers respect this.

I for one show stationary engines, and to show at a local show now costs me around £10 in fuel for the car and engine, not to mention my time. Me and many others in our club will not go to shows who try to impose an entrance fee for us. They soon scrap it the next year when no exhibits book in.

P.S. I usually chuck a couple of quid in the bucket on the way out.

free entrance is probably unreasonable to expect given organisation, insurance, site rental and other costs. But I would expect a low fee for cars and something for public on a per head basis. Reasonable fee to me would be around 1 to 5 pounds for a car (and no charge for occupants) with public charge around the same or higher per head?

That would be fairly low cost for a days entertainment, and ought to return enough to cover costs and give something to a charity or two.

Rob_Jennings wrote:free entrance is probably unreasonable to expect given organisation, insurance, site rental and other costs. But I would expect a low fee for cars and something for public on a per head basis. Reasonable fee to me would be around 1 to 5 pounds for a car (and no charge for occupants) with public charge around the same or higher per head?

Totally agree, I think charging per occupant is taking it a bit far. It's the second time this year I've come across the practice.
I think the defence would be it stops people bringing a car full for free but I’m sure the people who do that are in a small minority.

My wife and i organise the classic car and other exhibits (bikes, tractors, stationary engines etc) at a local show (non MMOC related!) and have stood our ground when the organisers suggested that they should start to charge exhibitors to enter. There are over 250 vehicles that turn out each year and we have said that if they want to start charging them they can look for other organinsers!

i go to a 3 day festival of transport each year and they do not charge for exhibiters or occupants and we aalso get a plaque free

we have said that if they want to start charging them they can look for other organinsers

Well said WPR!!
People who take the time to insure and bring an exhibit should not have to pay an entrance fee. Without these people there is no show as Paul has already said. It's different if you are trading or have a non charity stall. At our events the adult public usually get charged 3 to 8 pounds each to get in and loads seem to turn up...

some events with a high charge do offer good value for money IMO

for example I am going to the White Cliffs Rally on sunday http://www.vintagevehiclerally.moonfruit.com its costing £7.50 for each car for that you get:

entry to the Dover transport museum
vintage bus rides (as many as you like)
ride on the East Kent Light Railway
plaque (last year it was brass)

the events main purpose is to raise funds (and awareness) for the museum and the railway.

ps if anyone wants to come, you should be able to turn up on the day with your car, just give the number on the website a call.

PaulVW wrote:for example I am going to the White Cliffs Rally on sunday http://www.vintagevehiclerally.moonfruit.com its costing £7.50 for each car for that you get:

entry to the Dover transport museum
vintage bus rides (as many as you like)
ride on the East Kent Light Railway
plaque (last year it was brass)

compared to some of the other shows this is good value.

fancy coming then? ;)

wish I could but ive just got in from the west wilts branch meeting and once shes cooled down ill be pulling the engine, changing the crank tonight and hopefully pop it back in tomorow. gunna be a long day lol

Never come across this, charging a exibitor before! I remeber many years ago, early eightys - we used to get apperance money when we took our custom cars to shows! We also always got a plaque or something to say we had been there and quite often goodies from some sponsor. I suppose time moves on and organisers seem to want to make a profit rather than just break even. I can understand organisers needing to cover costs but charging exibitors, seems to be biting the hand that feeds them!! After all no exibitors, No show!!!

If I was paying money like that, I would want to know that it was all going to charity....especially if the purpose of the events are to raise money. Erm!?!

How much did the MMOC charge for admission to their show this year so that you could put your Minor in a field and wander round all day?

it was 12 pounds in advance 15 on the day a lot of money

It was a price per car, or free to enter by foot.