VW Club Fest 2011 – Sofia
Volkswagen Club Bulgaria organized Volkswagen Club Fest on March 19th and 20th. Event took place in Expo center in Sofia.
This is second time that this event was organizes by Volkswagen fans from Bulagria. Since we are regular guests this is second time we have visited this event.
Arrival
Like previous year, we headed to Sofia evening before beginning. All cars that will be presented in the hall, have to be parked on their spot evening before start of the event. Everything had to be ready for visitors on Saturday morning at 10 am.
Since we have arrived to Sofia around midnight. Cars were dirty, we were hungry, with no local currency… We definitely were not organized well, but our hosts were. We actually knew that, so we were relaxed.
On Saturday “morning”, around 11 am, we went to Expo Center. We were pleasantly surprised that we didn’t have to pay for entrance tickets ( they cost 5 levs or 2.5 eur). As soon as we entered the hall, we have met people we know.
Exhibition
At start, we ran into our cars, and than when we looked around, and saw cars that were not presented last year. Later, we heard that only car from last year was ours. At first hall, there were only Volkswagen cars. Those used in everyday life, as well as those for races only. You could see Passat, Golf, Corrado, Polo, Bora and others. Of course, various sponsors were there.
At the same hall, girls from the club have sold Club t-shirts, keychains and other club products. Like everything else, marketing was also good.
In second hall, one section was dedicated to Volkswagen Passat. There were models B2, B3, B5, B5.5, B6 and new B7, all one next to another, and in the middle Passat B1 dark red color. This B1 was car that VW Club have bought and restored. Although it was not completely finished it looked like it was brand new. We asked how did they find all parts, they have told us that they have found them in different cities. For example, for back windshield they went to Germany. Definitely not profitable, but worth respect!
In another part of the hall, we have seen Golf Convertible history. One next to another, Golf 1 with BBS wheels, Golf 3 and Golf 4 Convertible.
The rest of the hall was occupied by the rest of the VAG group like Škoda and Audi Club Bulgaria. Audi R8 attracted a lot of attention just like it is, without any changes.
There were many more interesting cars, like Beatle for race, nice and simple Škoda and Seat, some museum pieces of Beatles T1, T2 etc. We really needed a lot of time to walk around two halls. Of course, we had to walk around twice, because second time, we had to take photos for our gallery.
Club
Volkswagen Club Bulgaria is one of the biggest and most organized clubs in Europe. They have over 70.000 registered users on their web forum. Over 100 active members. On their events it is clearly that they plan everything and try to be better every time. Club also have their own garage with painting chamber of around 250 square meters and additional basement that they use as a warehouse for parts.
For the end, we would like to invite you to visit this event once, since it is one of the most interesting events in the region. We promise, if you head there like a club, you will be treated like a friend and a welcome guest!
