i think ford fair is now too big for it's own good, unless you have one of them 2 wheels scooter things to ride around on it's an awful lot of walking about, especially so if the weather is good and so you only see part of the show before you are either knackered or hungry

that being said, i wouldn't miss it for the world and i've been going since 97 when it was in a field and i got in free as the bloke on the gate said "it's late, do you want to come in?"

the other thing is that the traders and the wares they have on offer tend to be hit and miss, some junk is priced way above what you'd pay for it and some stuff is a bargain, but i feel the whole point of going to a "show" is to make your name and have a laugh with like minded people, sure you'll want to make money if you are a business, but if you take matt lewis* as an example, everyone knows who he is, everyone knows he's going to have cheap as chips stuff on his stall (although going by some prices, chips aren't exactly "cheap" ) and he's always got a minute to spare for a natter, even if it's just "hello mate, how you doing, give me a second, i've just to to serve this customer"

putting a name to a face means that, the next time i was stuck for bits, even though i might have been able to go to the local factor and get what i wanted, i rang matt up and he sorted me out, in fact, matt replied to a post i made about calipers and got me one in time for my mot, so now he knows who i am, i know who he is, sorted

but a lot of traders go to these shows to make a quick buck on stuff that they've had hanging around for eons, it's all about getting to know everyone, putting on a friendly face, shaking hands and generally having a good time

don't forget that we are all going to shows as enthusiasts of motoring, if you can see a business side of that they it's great, lots of folks have made money out of being a motoring enthusiast, but long gone are the days of pitching up a plaque and surrounding it with cars, you've got to offer something "different", that might be an on call nerd to tell you what that light is for, a forum where you can discuss all sorts of shit that's got nothing to do with cars, a pub meet, stickers, something other than just a row of cars and blokes trying to line them up with a bit of string and a spirit level

*other traders are available