Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Hershey Swap Meet 2009

:)My wife and I have been thinking about attending the automotive swap meet in "Hershey" this October. What are the exact dates of the automotive swap meet and any suggestions about where to stay that would be close to the event?

Thanks,
Freddie
Missoula, Mt

Oct. 7th- 10th. Motels in the area are usually booked a year in advance so start checking now.
Ron
Here's a link-
http://local.aaca.org/hershey/

If you've never been it's truely something to behold. Booths as far as the eye can see in any direction. Lots of petro, some of it will be pretty overpriced, but there's good deals to be found too. Definitely go the first two days though as people are packing up by Friday.

Freddie, my wife and I live only an hour and a half away. Decided a couple of years ago to try finding a room closer to the event so we could do 2 days. Unfortunately, everything is booked at least a year in advance. The fall Carlisle car show is always the previous week and many of these same people stay over for Hershey. Harrisburg may be your best bet for a room. You'll be within 30 minutes drive. Vigilance and patience will pay off eventually. Sorry, I wish I could offer some better advice. I've known people to sleep in their vehicles!

Freddie:
We usually stay in Carlisle. It is about a thirty minute drive from there but the Motel rates are a lot cheaper. Never had any trouble finding a room there if reserved a couple months in advance. Good luck...Dale

All the hotels close to the site will cost between 200 - 300 per night and are probably booked up. Try the Best Western in Middletown Pa. Its only 6 - 8 miles from the site and will be much more resonable.

I set up at both Carlisle and Hershey for 12 years straight. As a seller, this was the most exausting two weeks per year I ever spent. You leave home (in my case 700 miles away), you arrive at Carlisle, set up your tents, set up your tables, put your mdse. out, hopefully by sundown. Because motels are too expensive for 12 years I slept in my truck/trailer/van/camper, only because I wanted to be ready to sell when the first buyer walked by my space.
Carlisle was always good to me. Many foreign buyers (the main thing I was selling was ECO air meters or ECO parts). Always liked Carlisle.
By Sunday morning I was packing up, went to a motel (the rates for motels during Carlisle are out of sight, but for Sunday and Monday night in Carlise they are reasonable), for a restful night.
Early on, you didn't go to Hershey until Tuesday morning (all you guys, do you remember the long lines of trucks/vans/cars/campers, god knows what else, lined up off the road into Hershey). We would sit there for hours, only because the great minds running this show decided that they didn't want us to access our spots until after 12:00 p.m.???????
When you finally did get to your spots, you had to reverse the same thing you did the previous week at Carlisle. Tents, table, mdse. I did great at Hershey until they started moving us all around. I was in so many "fields" I have forgotten their colors. By the time they got their .... together I was too old to go back.
I still miss Carlisle and Hershey. As someone would say the "most funnest time you could have in two weeks."

Carlise is an enclosed show, but Hershey is wide open, meaning there are things going on that only the vendors know about. I don't know if it still going on, but there is a great 2 day deal at night that goes on and it is all about pedal cars. Great time, great host, it was what was worth going to Hershey about.
One last thing, as a vendor for 12 years, there were places in both Carlisle and Hershey that I never got to, just never wanted to leave my spot.
What does this all mean, these are the two greatest swap meets in the country, one week apart, vendor or seller, you can judge how great a time you had by how much money is in you pocket, or how much you found and it is in the back of your pick-up truck.
Sleep in a tent if you have to, don't miss these shows.

Jack Sim

AMEN, JACK!!

Thanks Jack for the detailed description of the 2 events. My wife and I will probably go to the Hershey show, your comments make it even more exciting. Sounds like you need a suitcase of money to call it a successful trip, a tough thing to do in this economy.

Freddie