The Royal City Show and Shine is going back to the tried-and-true when it motors back into New West this summer.
Savi Integrated Marketing, the Hyack Festival Association and Key West Ford are in the driver’s seat for this year’s event, which returns to New West after a two-year hiatus. The 2017 Royal City Show and Shine will be held on Sunday, July 23 at the Justice Institute of B.C.
“For the first year we are trying to keep it simple, bring back the original feel of the event, get the car guys back. We are looking to bring the event back and re-establish how to move forward with it,” said Guy Ciprian of Savi Integrated Marketing. “We really felt if we didn’t bring it back this year, it was done because this would have been the third year without the show and shine.
The Downtown New Westminster Business Improvement Association organized the event on Columbia Street for many years, but decided to focus its efforts on other events two years ago. The Hyack Festival Association expressed an interest in running the show, but encountered roadblocks that made it challenging to offer the event on Columbia Street.
“Hyack inherited it almost three years ago. People are still contacting them and saying, ‘Is it happening? When’s it going on?’ The inquiries never stopped. When you get that type of response, there’s usually a community demand for it,” Ciprian said. “It’s very unique. It’s not like another street festival. It’s something specific to a mature demographic. As much as we say it’s a family event and people bring their kids, at the end of the day it’s a different demographic. People love coming to look at the cars.”
The organizers surveyed past attendees and solicited feedback about the new date (changed to avoid conflicts with other car shows) and the new location for the Royal City Show and Shine. The Justice Institute parking lot has about 400 parking spaces, but organizers would be happy to get 200 cars for this year’s event.
“We are simplifying it,” Ciprian said. “We have listened to the surveys. The BIA did a really good job of surveying their participants. One thing that was very clear was that it was losing its flavour – people liked it as the old Royal City Show and Shine so we have rolled back the name.”
Key West Ford is staying on as the event’s title sponsor, but has agreed to drop its name from the event’s title. While the Royal City Show and Shine will highlight cars, it will also include food trucks and vendors.
“For the last three years it was called the Key West Ford Show and Shine. We have gone back to the name, we have simplified it, we have removed some of the extra street performers and stuff like that because people felt it was becoming too much of a street festival and not a car show,” Ciprian said. “We have gone back to go back to a genuine car show.”
