Beretta.net

Berettafest 2017 at Carlisle, PA

In 2017, we can join the All-GM Nationals in Carlisle and have our own club tent and class. We all love to get together with our friends and Berettas, but at GM Nationals you can expand your horizons a bit with over 1000 cars on site and plenty of activities to keep everyone busy! They will supply a big tent set up in our own area where we can BBQ, drink beer and hang out.

Entry is super cheap, $75 for the whole weekend, including camping on site. Much cheaper than getting a hotel room. You can bring a tent or an RV. Or if you're not feeling adventurous there are still plenty of hotels around. The GM event is smaller than some of their other events, too, so hotel pricing is reasonable. Even if you decide not to camp with the group, you can hang out at the campground until you can't stay awake any longer - there are no restrictions on when you have to leave.

I've done this show 5 times now, and it has never let me down. Camping with the group is the best experience in my opinion. There are clean free showers and bathrooms on site and even even a spot to wash a few cars at a time. The camping security is friendly, and they are cool with BBQs at the camp site and staying up shooting the bull with some brews. No alcohol or food restrictions. BYOstuff.

Edit: Some answers to questions I have heard:
-Your show sticker is your free pass to come/go as you please from 8am-5pm-ish, and a camping sticker means 24hr freedom to come/go any time. I spent most of the day on the grounds, but not actually on the show field. I was doing a lot of autocrossing.
-20% off for pre-registration, and kids under 12 are free.
-Pet friendly. I saw lots of dogs this year.
-Hotels run appx $50-100/night.
-Local drag strip if there is enough interest (http://www.southmountainraceway.com/)
Any other questions just ask and I'll find out.

Official site http://www.carlisleevents.com/carlisle- ... fault.aspx
PDF http://www.carlisleevents.com/carlislew ... ionals.pdf
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/GMNationals/
-1000+ cars
-Autocross ride-a-longs
-Autocross your own car
-Burnout contest
-Monster truck rides
-Kids section with bounce house & arcade
-Women's oasis
-Manufacturer's displays
-Parts vendors
-Good food court

Thursday would be a good day to hit up Hershey Park. It's a short drive (~45 mins) with roller coasters, a water park, and lots of other stuff. It's open 10am-10pm for this part of the season (8pm for the water park). We could do it as a whole day event (I know many Bfesters show up early), or do a "sunset" pass for 1/2 price admission after 5:30.
http://www.hersheypark.com/index.php


Approximate schedule:

Thursday June 15:
Option A: Show up and register early for a full day at Hershey Park - $63
Option B: Hold registration open later, group lunch & evening pass at Hershey for $29
Roller coasters & water rides, etc (http://www.hersheypark.com/index.php)

Friday June 16
Morning/day:
GM Nationals show field opens (with Bnet section & tent for hanging out)
Autocross ride-a-longs in race-prepped cars
Open autocross your own car
Enter UMI Autocross Shootout for cash
Monster truck Ride-A-Longs
Check out huge swap meet
Evening:
Grand Prix Go-Karting at Sports Emporium (http://www.carlislesportsemporium.com/a ... -in-pa.php)
Group dinner at Fairgrounds Diner / or BBQ at camp site
Hang out at the camp site

Saturday
Morning/day:
Our own Berettafest car show & voting (at our Bnet section of show field)
All 1000+ cars come for the Saturday show
Probably eat at the food court (lots of options and priced reasonably) or BBQ
Afternoon:
Burnout contest
Evening:
Picnic and hang out at the camp site

Sunday
Group breakfast at the Diner
Pack up & say goodbye


Few random pics for an idea of the event

About time!!!

Well done Woody.

Please be aware when considering this proposal... You will also be voting to move Bfest 1 week earlier than it's typical weekend. I'm pointing this out because I already brought up moving the weekend once and it did not fly.

This will be a June 14th to 18th proposal for those who arrive on the Wednesday.

I <3 this idea

Being it is roughly a year in advance of notice, those voting and planning for this proposal should have ample time to schedule and finagle this time frame.
However, it does extend into father's day. Which for some, can be good should some use the time to spend it with there father/child?

Some pics from Carlisle this year...

It's got my vote!!
I have been talking about something like this for several years!!

For those interested, I did a bit more research on the specifics of the event and spoke with one of the event coordinators in Carlisle, as I had a few questions:

It's $40 per car to register for the entire weekend (FRI-SUN). This includes entry for 1 driver and 1 passenger. It's $10/per additional passenger, however kids 12 and under are free. This would be in ADDITION to normal Bfest registration fees.

Camping costs $15 total for the entire weekend, and camping can happen Thursday-Sunday (anyone showing up on Wednesday or earlier would need to get a hotel until then). There are showers and fresh water, but there are no camper amenities (i.e., no power, no sewer or water hookups) - so if you want to camp, gonna have to be old school! The camp ground is about a 3-5 minute walk from where the cars would be on the show floor.

They will put us in a area sized to fit our group, so all cars will be together. We can come and go from the event as we please.

All festivities in the event are free of charge, including the Autox on Friday and the Burnout contest on Saturday. They have additional Autox time that is charged, but that's for what is basically "AutoX school".

We can bring in anything we like, including beer (Kegs) and grills. Only rules are no selling parts and no selling food (so as not to compete with the vendors).

There are limited hotels that are close to this event, so I'm not sure if we'd get something super close or not (may need to call and see??). The ones in Carlisle proper are about $75-120/night, but most likely we'd need to look at some of the hotels in other towns, which are 25-30 mins from the event and also $100-200/night. Not sure if distance will be an issue since we might have a split between hotelers and campers?

I asked a bit about Berettafest getting "Lost" in the larger event, and the person I spoke with didn't seem concerned. He said TONS of people have their yearly gathering there, and he's never heard anyone complain about that. He said we can pretty much do whatever we want and come and go when we want. He was VERY awesome to talk with and was very enthusiastic about having our group. Very positive conversation!

I guess my only other thought is do we want to go to a car show for 4 days? (alot of the fun for me atleast, is getting out with the group and seeing/doing new things, most of which is away from whereever we are staying). I'm afraid we might end up with two or three groups of people that all end up doing something different - and we try really hard to avoid that when planning. What are other people thinking here?

I'm guessing you talked to Tyler? He's the event coordinator, who would set is up with our club tent, etc. He was great to work with. I don't expect any problems with organization. This ain't their first rodeo.

By scheduling a day at Hershey, and then one day for all the extra curricular stuff (autocross, swap meet, ride a logs, etc.) I don't think there would be any problem with the group getting bored and splitting. Saturday would be the "show" day to park your car and check out all the others. But there is plenty to see and do. The time flies by...

Im thinking we all need to get a hotel together and we should be okay. Hershey isnt far, and ill trailer my red gtz out so we will have a "tow" vehicle on stand by, wich is always a big plus. A few years ago they had a dyno there, id love to check that out.

woody90gtz wrote:By scheduling a day at Hershey, and then one day for all the extra curricular stuff (autocross, swap meet, ride a logs, etc.) I don't think there would be any problem with the group getting bored and splitting. Saturday would be the "show" day to park your car and check out all the others. But there is plenty to see and do. The time flies by...

I think what Aaron is asking is if everyone is fine with just car related activities other than Hershey Park on Thursday. Your second day you're quoting "autocross, swap meet, ride a logs, etc." which some may not be all that interested in. Hell we can't even organize one drag racing night anymore. That's where the question arises, are people going to want to go do other non car related local activities, if so that will generate the split we are talking about. Also what else is in the area to do, other than the car stuff AT Carlisle and then Hershey Park.

We are just trying to make sure that people are aware of what events are planned for each location. I don't want to see people voting for a distance reason and not realize that Bfest reg payment is required as well as they need to also pay and register with Carlisle, as well as pay and reserve a hotel room if they are not camping.

This location is a huge shift from the normal Bfest setup so I just want to make sure all are aware of that and read through all the details so they know everything they need to know. It's not just a location they are voting for, it's a completely different event.

Are generators permitted for use? Camping with a generator may change the game for some folks vote.

3X00-Modified wrote:We are just trying to make sure that people are aware of what events are planned for each location. I don't want to see people voting for a distance reason and not realize that Bfest reg payment is required as well as they need to also pay and register with Carlisle, as well as pay and reserve a hotel room if they are not camping.

If this is known upfront, those that vote for the proposal can't expect anything unwritten. A well specified event cannot have ambiguities nor left to interpretations.

I do believe generators are ok, but I will call to confirm.

There is also a go kart place nearby if that is another thing bfesters might be interested in. They have wheels and tires though, so that may be a horrible idea for a car-enthusiast event...

I see this proposal as an opportunity to get an action-packed car weekend that we do not have the resources to do on our own. If that's not what people are interested in, then don't vote for it.

You can run generators during the day, but they are prohibited between the hours of 11pm and 7am.

I think the point that Jon was making is that alot of people use Bfest as a vacation, and it's helpful to have NON-CAR related activities available for those of us who can only take so much of it. For example, my wife likes cars, but she'd go nuts if that was all that was happening. (I told my daughter about it, and she said "Dad, I don't really want to drag race for 4 days straight)

Having other social stuff that the group can do together which isn't car related is always a good idea (for example, the Rope Coarse and Boat Trip this last year) will help those of us that attend with less enthusiastic car fans

I think it'd be a fun thing to do personally, and would like to see it succeed, and I think it has the best chance if we can appeal to a larger audience.