Adventure Northside, Germany 2-4 October 2015

NOTE: This event has been postponed until 2-4 October 2015. See www.adventure-northside.com/?lang=en for full details.

Well, just back from Germany with some interesting news:-

Myself and 'German Ralf', who some of you already know from the Adventure Overland Show at Stratford Racecourse), have secured a venue to run an event never before seen in Germany -

Adventure Northside ... overland & bushcraft show. Held over Easter 2015, officially it will run from Good Friday (although campers can start arriving from 1am Thursday) to Easter Sunday. That way as folk will also be coming from surrounding counties such as France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark and Poland, they have an chance of getting back on Easter Monday. It is hoped the Anglo-German connection will also encourage some Brits to venture over, although the 6 hour drive from Calais will certainly put some off.

This link may work - https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Calais,+France/Nawala+Abenteuerland,+Vethem+58,+29664+Walsrode,+Germany/@52.0906242,6.0910316,7z/data=!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x47dc3f75d7f1e363:0xacbed9e08cd279f4!2m2!1d1.858686!2d50.95129!1m5!1m1!1s0x47b057f17668deb9:0xca50e8ba1ea0f50f!2m2!1d9.472404!2d52.84809

Located in the north of Germany, the venue called "Nawala Abenteuerland" is on the edge of a rural village called Vethem, near the larger town Walsrode (phonetically pronounced as 'Vals-roader'). The location is critical, as it stands in the middle of a triangle of three big cities - Hamburg, Hannover and Bremen - so is likely to attract many visitors over the holiday weekend. Road links are also good as the E234 autobahn is close by.

See https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Nawala+Abenteuerland/@52.8500327,9.4661981,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0000000000000000:0xca50e8ba1ea0f50f

When you zoom in on Google Earth you'll see the lakes and two big open grass trade areas.

The website is under construction as we speak, so should be ready in a few days time. In the meantime, I have announced the dates on the calendar in case it assists you plan your diary for 2015.

See http://www.4x4calendar.co.uk/show.php?org=Adventure+Northside

Your thoughts?

Very good idea, it will give the users of overland products a new list of potential suppliers and it will show the
foreign manufacturers how big the market is over here.
Good luck with it and I hope to be there.

It would be great if a few Brits made it over there, it would give it a real Anglo-German feel.

Anyway, talking of shows, a couple of friends travelling though Europe made it down to the Traces Off-Road Show near Lyon, this is what they said in their email to me ...

We are doing great. Believe it or not, we made it to TRACES outside Lyon, France on time! The scenery was beautiful but the show was very small and not nearly as valuable as we thought it would be. You'll be happy to know that the Adventure Overland Show has SO MUCH more to offer! We camped out, thinking it would be just like your show, with lots of people at a site - but we paid 10 euro to sleep in a Carrefour parking lot with maybe 5 other cars.. it was really strange and not at all what we were expecting... We were glad to have made it to the little town, though.. that was nice.. and in the morning there was a Land/Range Rover ride along through the town, which was super obnoxious but fun nonetheless!

Just goes to show (pardon the pun), we are truly spoilt over here when it comes to shows and exhibitions. Imagine me asking folk arriving at Stratford Racecourse to pitch their roof-tents in Tesco car park? Yep, I can here their choice comments now!

Wey hey, we have a website! Very basic at the mo, but we're getting there.

Top l/h corner for English version, see www.adventure-northside.com

Great news, we now have Media Partners for Adventure Northside!

Bookings coming in, but strangely it's a 60-40 split at the moment between Holland and Germany ... in favour of Dutchland!

How about the following for innovativeness? This is your word for the day BTW


The first Overland / Bushcraft Exhibition with money-back guarantee!

"Adventure Northside" (3-5 April 2015, Vethem, NW Germany) - the first ever show in Central Europe featuring solely 4x4/motorcycle overland travel and bushcraft/survival.

Not only have we ...

· Now secured as Media Partners the two leading publications in their respective fields - 4x4 action and Survival (formerly Gear) magazines.

· Substantial advertisements appear in national magazines from January 2015.

· Traders from Germany, Netherlands, England and as far away as Peru have already booked trade stand pitches - a full list will be published approximately 4 weeks before the event.

· Adventure Northside is already being promoted and discussed in social media - blogs, forums, Facebook, etc.

· In the New Year a regional advertising campaign will begin in the metropolitan areas of Hamburg, Bremen and Hanover, a catchment area of over eight million people.

... we have also decided to give traders yet another reason for attending the inaugural event ... a money-back guarantee!

Why offer a money-back guarantee?
Because this unique scheme significantly reduces the financial risk for traders attending the inaugural event. We as organisers are so confident the exhibition will be a great success from Day One, we are able to offer this innovative scheme to the trade.

How the money-back scheme will work:-
It is very simple. If a company who attends "Adventure Northside 2015" are so unhappy with the exhibition they decide not to book up for "Adventure Northside 2016", they would then be entitled to a 100% refund of their 2015 booking fee. No quibble, no arguments, all their money back pure and simple. This offer only applies to companies booking and paying for a trade stand pitch before 31st January 2015.

Trade stand pitches will be allocated on a purely 'first come, first served' basis.

Please contact us via email/phone for further information about trade stands or the exhibition itself via the website at www.adventure-northside.com

quote "Bookings coming in, but strangely it's a 60-40 split at the moment between Holland and Germany ... in favour of Dutchland!"

And you find this strange.
Thought you knew the Dutch better by now.
Who makes the party?

Hi cadarn
nice to hear from you, might meet up some time,

Hi Jaap, good to hear from you.

Not so much 'strange' as I know you Dutchies are mad for your off-roading, more a case of being surprised. The Adventure Northside show is after all in Germany! Doubtless the majority of the trader stands will eventually be German, but a great start by Holland.

Latest news:-

Originally scheduled for 3-5 April 2015 (Easter), unfortunately "Adventure Northside" has been postponed until October 2015.

This has been forced upon us by strict German trading laws covering the Easter religious festival, our hands are truly tied!

To be honest, it would have been all too easy to give up at the first obstacle, but we believe we're creating something really special here (as do the trade and owners/enthusiasts judging by the positive feedback), so we are going to forge ahead with new purpose. The bonus? Now the event's late Summer instead of Spring, we can expect similar weather or even better, that has to be good! We trust you'll continue to support us ... all the way!!!

Sorry to hear that Tom, gives you more time to get more traders for the Autumn,
Do you think you will now come with us from the start for Morocco trip,

Doubtful, we've spent £1,500 already on promotion, now this. Really don't know if I can make it at all now.    

Wouldn't mind but only last week we ordered up 10,000 flyers and 5,000 stickers (all with the old date of course), which not only have already arrived, the bulk of 'em have already been posted out to traders and so forth in Germany, Holland, etc. ... sod's law!

Looking on the bright side, you're spot on. It gives us a lot more time for additional media promotions, more traders, campers, display vehicles, etc. Only two traders have had to cancel due to commitments in October, so that's not the end of the world.

We will persevere, but it's sooooooooo frustrating.

Tough luck Tom! I guess that is one of the challenges of moving into new (or at least new-ish) markets. Also sorry to hear you re definitely out for Morocco as well! I guess on the plus side, and somewhat selfishly, it means I will be able to attend now.

These things are sent to try us not so good for you but better for me as I can come on those dates

Every cloud eh? If you can now make it, then that's certainly something.

Didn't say I was "definitely" out of the running for Morocco Tembo, just "doubtful". I'll count up my pennies and see, hopefully it may still be possible.

Well, then we will wait and see. You and the orange machine will always be welcome if you can manage it!

Do you have dates for October Tom, do you expect to run in Oct '16 as well?

Our calendar is pretty full this year but I will see if there is enough interest for a DDLRC club trip if not for this year then next.

It's now the 2-4 October 2105, scheduled for the same weekend every year thereafter.

So, I now know the itinerary for the Adventure Overland Show at Stratford-upon-Avon 26-27 September 2015 and Adventure Northside ( www.adventure-northside.com/?lang=en ) the following weekend. Here goes:-

As per usual, we will have an after-show party evening of Sun 27th Sept (officials and whichever campers are still there), clear up the racecourse on Mon 28th Sept. (signage, fire extinguishers, etc.), have a good sleep Mon night, set off for Germany 9am Tues 29th thus avoiding the worst of the M25 car park, head to a campsite in Valkenburg nr. Masstricht in Holland to stay the night, set off at 9am to arrive at Vethem (stick Vethem 58 into Google maps) at 1pm.

ANYBODY WHO CAN LEND A HAND IN STRATFORD + WHEN WE ARRIVE IN GERMANY AND WANTS TO JOIN OUR CONVOY ARE MORE THAN WELCOME!

I realise a lot of folk have CB's but some haven't, so I will supply the entire convoy with hand-held radios which of course are legal when driving as opposed to mobile phones.

Regarding ferries, the best crossing I reckon is Dover-Dunkirk on DFDS. Great ferries, never had a bad crossing with them. Works out at £70 for me as I have the RR camper, so have to go for the 'up to 6m long/2.35m high' rate. Could be less for others? £70 is good anyway!

So, I will be booking -

DFDS Dover-Dunkirk out 14:00 Tues 29th Sept
&
Return DFDS Dunkirk-Dover also 14:00 Wed 7th Oct DFDS Dunkirk-Dover.

Anybody fancy joining us? So far it will be German Ralf in his Disco, Marcin (a trader from 4x4zone), probably another trader from World of Bumpers 4x4, a couple of vehicles from Bedworth Berts 4x4 Club, and yours truly in the RR camper. Looking good!

You know that after the Adventure Overland Show at Stratford-upon-Avon 26-27 Sept 2015, we're off in convoy to the second overland event - Adventure Northside in Vethem 58, Germany 2-4 Oct 2015.

Well one of our merry band can't travel due to an unexpected hernia operation, thus a spare seat has become available in a LR130. I estimate it'll cost the co-driver approx. £80 to £100 max. in fuel/ferry. Back on Wednesday 7th October.

Any takers?

Ralf just sent me the weather forecast for Vethem where we're holding "Adventure Northside". Can't believe it, we're talking of 23 degrees ...



Here's hoping.

tom looking to do AO 16....then head of to germany for northside with my sister in here truck.......and might pick up gert in holland....?