Fall Carlisle attendance light.?

[Ricko1937]

A friend of mine attended Fall Carlisle on Fri & Sat and said both days seemed to be light on vendors and patrons. I'm sure the gas crunch has affected it. I wonder how it will affect Hershey. Anyone else attend Fall Carlisle and notice a difference.

[Guest John W. Harvey]

Cindy and I went to Carlisle on Friday. The number of vendors has been on a steady decline for the past 3 to 4 years. As for the total number of vendors and spectators, this was the worst Fall Carlisle I have attended. The weather was great........ so no weather excuse!

John

[Wowabunga]

I'm here in the blue field right now at Hershey.... row next to me is about 50 percent empty. Over all the blue field looks to be about 75 percent... usually it's much more attended by vendors wall to wall. Have not made it up to the other fields yet. Brought the wrong shoes and I'm a hurt'n... will just sit here and liquidate all this old junk.

[Guest greg72monte]

I have definately noticed a downward trend in car show attendance this year, even on nice days. Gas prices?, Too much of a good thing? Who knows

The way the weather forecast looks for Hershey this weekend, I probably will NOT be there, sad to say. I am registered for the car show, going for repeat preservation.

[Guest greg72monte]

I see that The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for the Hershey area, with 2-3 inches, or as much as 5 inches of rain in the next few days. That's too bad. After 2 dry years, we are back to the "regular" weather pattern.

(To: JWH, I was looking forward to seeing the "new" you)

[Ricko1937]

I too have 2 cars registered for the show on Saturday and will not be coming. It is just too much to trailer in and show with the price of gas and motels this year. Especially when your going for 3rd Preservation. I may come down Sat. for the show but the weather does not look good for the weekend. Oh well maybe next year. I haven't missed Hershey since 1988. I got married that weekend and couldn't convince my new bride to attend instead of honeymooning in Hawaii.

[Guest Philo]

I went down to Carlisle on Friday, it was an almost perfect day. I noticed there were fewer people than last year. That made it easier to get around, but not good for the vendors. There were also quite a few vendor spots that were empty - quite a change from the old days when vendors were lined up at the gate waiting for a vendor to cancel or leave. I walked every row, and paid for it for three days.

[ex98thdrill]

I heard several vendors at Hershey swear up and down that they'll never do another Carlisle again. They had said that business was better at Hershey (this was before it rained). Maybe if Carlisle starts to fade, Hershey will keep going strong.

[critterpainter]

Thursday at Carlisle was quite crowded with buyers (or should I say lookie-loos?) which surprised me as I expected Friday to be the day with the most shoppers. We didn't do as many sales as prior years but then again we don't expect much at Carlisle as it seems to be a hot-rod, tool, t-shirt, birdhouse, and tatoo parlour kind of a meet rather than an antique car parts swap meet.

Bill

[Guest BruceW]

I havent been to Carlisle for several years but I heard a lot of comments from friends this year about spring and fall Carlisle becoming more of a general flea market with t-shirts.. socks..crafts.. and other assorted items rather than actual car parts. They also commented on what seemed to be an increased number of vendor spaces for sale or lease with some available in just about every row.

Maybe the $9 a day admission cost might also have something to do with reduced attendance by spectators, especially when its a low probability you will find car parts you need.