Give me 60 acres and I’ll turn this gig around: Fergus show boss
FERGUS, Ont. – – The good news first: The Fergus Truck Show is as popular as ever. But it’s running out of space and the people who run the 22-year-old event don’t know yet how they’ll solve the problem in time for next year’s production.
The show is a victim of its own success. Most of it takes place on municipal property on the outskirts of Fergus, Ont. near Guelph, but a few years ago the show began renting 60 acres from neighboring farms for parking and for the truck pull. Now, say organizers, it’s losing the rights to that land.
Monday, the COO of the Show Wayne Billings told media, including todaystrucking.com, that not only does the agreement for the extra land expire this year, the owners want to retill the soil, which would be at least a two-year project.
needed to put on the popular Fergus Truck Show
As a result, Billings said plans for next year’s show are behind schedule and the board of directors is busy seeking a new location.
Is the show in trouble of being cancelled as some reports suggest? Billings wouldn’t say so, but concedes the location might have to change. "Our only option is to move," he said.
He says organizers have three potential alternative sites in mind but nothing has been agreed upon yet.
The four-day outdoor extravaganza bills itself as one of the largest truck festivals in North America. Financially, the show is in good shape. This year it raised over $45,986 for charity.
It’s also seeing bigger crowds thanks in large part to big-name Canadian entertainment acts such as April Wine, Kim Mitchell and David Wilcox. The space, therefore, is essential to accommodate the 70,000 visitors that gathered in 2008.
The show’s website informs visitors that “campsite bookings will be delayed as we are still in rental negotiations with the neighbouring farms. We hope to have an agreement in place by the end of October or early November and campsites will go on sale Dec.1, 2008.”
“The truck show is a part of my life," Billings said at the press conference.
If you have an extra 120 to 1500 acres for rent and you’re in the area, you might contact the show.
Billings says if the landowner uses the property for haying the rest of the year, he would still be able to get a crop off before the show starts, and, Billings added, "we always pay our rent on time."
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