Waterfest 20 (2014)
Congratulations Waterfest, on your 20th anniversary! What started from very humble beginnings as the annual show for the family business – Rapid Parts, just up the road in Monsey NY – has morphed into the biggest VW and Audi enthusiast show in the USA. Now held at Old Bridge NJ’s Raceway Park, the Waterfest formula is proven, it works, and the show is very well organized, and very well attended.
Since we’ve been making the trip to NJ, there have been few changes to Waterfest. Last year Afterfest (the official Waterfest after party) was born, in an effort to reduce the impact on the surrounding areas while being invaded by a bunch of amped up car enthusiasts, and to hopefully keep people safe. By all accounts it worked, so Afterfest continued this year as well. New for the 20th Waterfest was the VIP pass, which allowed the select few who purchased it to hang out in the air conditioned room in the Raceway Park tower, plus prime parking, and other perks.
We truly love going to Waterfest, as it is the only show that combines everything we want to do that is car related into one huge event. Think of it as one stop shopping for a VW/Audi enthusiast.
What can you find at Waterfest you ask? Almost too much to mention.
Let’s start with a huge vendor area, where you can get just about anything imaginable for your car, from LED lights, massive wheels, full suspensions, tuning kits, big turbos, complete engines, custom vinyl, and on and on. There is also a huge swap meet section, which was the largest we’ve seen so far, with lots of used parts offered for a wide variety of cars. Add to that the on-sight chip tuning, exhaust fitting, and other on the spot installations at Waterfest, and it starts to make sense to have things done right there, while you wander around and check out other stuff.
Ok, say your car is already modded to your preference, and you just want to see what it can do? Perfect, as Waterfest makes use of Raceway Park’s NHRA drag strip! All you need is a helmet, and a driver’s license, and of course your car needs to pass tech, and you can go out and see what it can do in the ¼ mile. This is a great spectator event as well, and this year we were treated to some very fast cars, including 2 RS 7s, one of which was breaking into the high 10s at over 130mph.
Waterfest also has an autocross setup on the road course at Raceway Park, as well as a dyno (2 wheel drive only).
The exhibition lots were buzzing this year. This is where the “get together” aspect of Waterfest comes alive. Here you’ll find large groups of people who are part of a club, or web forum, or just like models all hanging out, grilling food, enjoying the day. We wish that we could spend more time visiting, but there is too much going on for us sadly..
This year would have been perfect for that, as we were treated to possibly the best weather ever for Waterfest. After enduring countless Waterfests where we felt like we were literally going to melt into the asphalt, where it was so hot that organizers saw fit to turn on misting sprinklers to keep the hordes of people from passing out from heat exhaustion, in 2014 the temperatures hovered around the high 70s.. Yes, 70s. Considering we’ve seen temps in the 110s in the past, this was an incredibly welcome change.
With great weather came a great turnout at Waterfest, as it seemed to us that the crowds were very large, especially on Sunday. We never know the true numbers, but if the parking lots are any indication, 2014 was in line if not superior to previous years in terms of spectators.
One thing we noticed as we were heading out on Saturday, it seemed that Afterfest – the official Waterfest After Party – was drawing a HUGE number of participants, which is great, but we have to wonder if some of these folks are skipping out on Waterfest Saturday, and only heading directly to Afterfest. Saturday did seem quite a bit quieter, at least in the Vendor areas, than Sunday, which was the typical Waterfest crowded.
The exhibition lots were very full as well on both days though, and we saw many really nicely turned out Audis scattered around. The current trend in the VW and to an extent Audi scene is “stance”, which is exceedingly low ride height, and wheels that are a few sizes too wide for the tires, along with in many cases cosmetic “changes” related to having a car with bulging fenders and rubbing tires.
Air suspensions must be flying off of the shelves lately too. We recall a time when the notion of installing air ride in a VW or Audi was unheard of, now it is an entire industry with its own following and clubs and web forums. We didn’t actually try to keep track of how many air fitted cars, but there were many.
As one would expect, we saw mostly well modded Audis from almost all conceivable ranges. From old school 4000s and Quattros, a few 80/90 series, right up through the latest offerings such as the brand new A3, and RS 7, Audi was very well represented. We brought an SQ5, which was the only genuine one we saw, and it drew a good crowd. And as is the latest trend, there were a few race cars, including the Paul Miller Racing R8 LMS.
We’re happy for Waterfest that it has the staying power, we’re glad to see that the tuner industry appears to be thriving, and we’re thrilled that there is still so much enthusiasm around the VW and Audi scene. We’re looking forward to next year, and many more to come!
Click Here for the Waterfest 20 Photo Gallery