Having been to this lovely south coast Volkswagen show 5 years running, I was amazed to see Dorset Volksfest 2017 take a massive leap in size and scope from previous years, massively evolving from its humble beginnings in 2013 to a “must go” on any south coast festival lovers calendar. This year’s show had bigger music headliners, more entertainment and more vintage and new age VW’s than you can shake a stick at.
Combining a full weekend of excellent live music, DJ arena, FREE kids entertainment, trade village, autojumble section, beer and cider tent, a multitude of street food and beverage traders and Volkswagens of all shapes and sizes, Dorset Volksfest welcomed all the family for a full weekend of fun and entertainment.
Live displays included four times daily Mountain Bike stunt shows from Dorset based #TeamRockit plus weekend long MTB stunt shows featuring professional riders from all over the UK.
On Saturday night, as part of the festivals Steam Punk fancy dress theme for 2017, festival goers were wowed by a live Steam Punk fire show from Pantheatrix, a Dorset based group of fire performers, who put on a show for 40 minutes to a packed out audience, perfectly warming up the crowd for the headline band, Devon based Filta, covering dance hits and floor fillers as a full band, in their own iconic style.
The weekends Live music included Friday night headliners Lion Star, a reggae and world fusion band from south west England, plus many local acts including popular rock band The WG, folk music from Sixteen String Jack, Latino fusion from The Bomo Swing, punk folk from Sinful Maggie, heavy rock from Manhattan Dragon and Mikey Ball & The Company, plus an ensemble of local acoustic acts including The Pudenski Brothers, Matt Griffiths, Shannon White, Chris Collins and teenage duo Calvin Glenn & Stacey Leighann.
New to DVF17 was a showcase of local Bournemouth Graffiti artists from Paintshop Studios, who spent the weekend creating a graffiti masterpiece in the main arena for all to see.
Children’s entertainment included a free kid’s zone, a place to unwind, with many activities available to parents and kids, including giant Jenga, outdoor Twister and more. Also available were bouncy castles, kid’s arts and crafts tent, bungee ropes and more.
To ensure every festival goer had a great time, the campsite was also cleverly mapped out into quite areas for family camping at one end, down to a louder party camping zone for VW clubs and camping groups, with general camping in between.
Brand new this year, Dorset Volksfest hosted its first ever VW Trekker display, with Trekkers coming from all over the UK to spend the weekend on display in the arena. A rarity on the Volkswagen scene for so many Trekkers to be seen together at a VW show. Previous UK records estimate only 8 Trekkers having attended a show, with DVF achieving 9 on display over the weekend.
In support of Dorset Volksfest’s chosen charity for 2017, Dub Angels, DVF raffled off a custom made bike created especially for the show by Forge Custom Cycles of Bournemouth, worth over £1,200, with the draw for this raffle taking place on Sunday afternoon before trophies were awarded for the shows Pride in Ownership competition, giving awards in 18 categories of Volkswagen new and old.
With both weekend camping and day tickets available, the festival saw record numbers on both accounts, with a second camping field being sourced due to such high numbers on the gate.
Festival goers attending Dorset Volksfest this year enjoyed a quirky, fun-filled weekend for all the family. With random and fun activities around every corner. Car lovers, food lovers, music lovers and festival lovers were not disappointed. Most importantly this festival had a lovely atmosphere, with the sun shining from start to finish, people of all ages were having a great time. With so much to do, everyone was well entertained and with fair prices from traders and food venders alike, this event was very reasonable on price.
Dorset Volksfest is a festival on its way up, with a dedicated audience, this show is growing in size and scope every year. With a constant flow of new ideas, I cannot wait to see what new elements this show will bring in 2018.
Published on 25 July 2017 by Gemma Varnfield
