FoTU 2025 thread - are you planning to go?

[blackboilersuit]

The entry fee doesn't bother me, compared to the costs of coming down from Scotchland, hotel etc £35 is fuck all in the grand scheme of things. Mind you I might feel different if it was a local show for me. FOTU is a great show and if you've never been before then absolutely DO IT, you'll be blown away and have a great time. It's a fantastic event and a great social occasion. I've been for the last 3 years so will probably give it a miss this year because like all great things if you do them all the time they become just a bit samey, it's always good to switch things up and get a bit of variety. This year I'm planning on doing Rustival and Shitefest International for a change but may well return to FOTU in future years.

[beko1987]

I did enjoy it tbh, and going with/from my dad's near Spalding makes it not a huge trip for me. 

But having spent last year mostly down the show end of the event with my dad who has limited mobility i think next time we'll park up by the normal_cars end and stay up there! (or play the blue badge card and see if we could sweet talk the staff into letting us buzz down to the other end after a good while). 

My dad would do better with just sitting down around somewhere and chatting than walking. I'll keep an eye on the overall plan but am deffo going to Rustival. Should consider Chumley too if thats still on I guess. FOTU is last place in my limited social 'shit I wanna do this year' calendar though

[BorniteIdentity]

£40 for a full car of friends for a whole day is great value if you live in the real world of other leisure activities.

Football tickets for my beloved Ipswich Town weigh in at the same if I can get them, and that’s 90 minutes ending in disappointment. Four people to the cinema for a movie is £48. Meal for four? Say £100. Ten-pin bowling, theme parks etc all more expensive. 

Aye, it used to be free - and it has lost some of its charm since the early days. But in reality, it’s priced correctly. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t sell out again and again. 

Anyway, hope to take the Mini this year. 

[wesacosa]

25 minutes ago, BorniteIdentity said:

£40 for a full car of friends for a whole day is great value if you live in the real world of other leisure activities.

Football tickets for my beloved Ipswich Town weigh in at the same if I can get them, and that’s 90 minutes ending in disappointment. Four people to the cinema for a movie is £48. Meal for four? Say £100. Ten-pin bowling, theme parks etc all more expensive. 

Aye, it used to be free - and it has lost some of its charm since the early days. But in reality, it’s priced correctly. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t sell out again and again. 

Anyway, hope to take the Mini this year. 

Agree, although my only real gripe is that they don't offer a little bit of a discount to the people showing. They are more likely to want to take their own car rather than pile in with a mate so end up paying more than 6 mates who pile into a modern MPV 

[wuvvum]

Yeah, it's the fact that the exhibitors (who are, after all, the ones providing them with a show) are charged the same as the general public that gets my goat.  I wouldn't mind paying something for an exhibitor ticket, it's a cracking day out.

[BorniteIdentity]

1 hour ago, wuvvum said:

Yeah, it's the fact that the exhibitors (who are, after all, the ones providing them with a show) are charged the same as the general public that gets my goat.  I wouldn't mind paying something for an exhibitor ticket, it's a cracking day out.

Problem is - how do you decide who is exhibiting and who is visiting? Historically, they've not even been able to keep a modern supercar out of the display, so someone arriving in a 2002 Audi A2 could easily say "I'm displaying LOL" and it becomes confusing.  It would also slow down entries as well which is something they can ill-afford.  Yes, you could do it at the ticketing stage, but you'd just end up with everyone displaying and no revenue for Hagerty. As much as it was sweet when it started out, there's no way you can run something as large as this without a good income stream; even to justify the man-hours that go into it.

I do agree, classic car shows where they charge the display cars is a bit of a piss-take.  But this does feel like a one-day festival where everyone just goes for the craic. 

 

[brownnova]

11 hours ago, beko1987 said:

Should consider Chumley

No date given as yet 21st September is the date for this spectacle of shite.

(they updated that since I last looked)

Will get on the organisation as soon as tickets are out. 

[Lord Sterling]

Unsure to be honest. It's the day before the night I go back to work. It's not exactly local but not overly far either, then there is the £35 fee.

If I were to come up, it'd be in the Vectra as that's pretty "unexceptional" but, let's see how I feel nearer to the time. There's always something that's going to happen that disallow my appearance.