THE NEC Motorhome Show

The gates open!

 Out of all of the many exciting destinations we go in Europe, you can't beat Birmingham! To be more specific, the NEC in Birmingham during the Motorhome Show. It would be fair to say that the Caravan Club Temporary Site is not the best campsite we have ever stayed on, but the real highlight is the show itself.

Many of you will have visited the show so know what it's all about. We have the benefit of exhibitor's badges, which gets you into the show before it starts - and that really is fascinating.

We arrived on the Monday afternoon before the show expecting it to all be ready. There was no carpet down and all you could see was a sea of hi-viz jackets, with people beavering away.

Before the gates open

The logistical operation of getting all of the vans, caravans and accessories is mind-blowing. Our set-up is nice and quick so we were gone by 4pm leaving everyone hard at it. When we arrived at 9am the following morning the transformation was complete. All the stalls were ready, the carpet was down and the show was ready to open.

The busiest day is the Saturday when 25,000 people attend. The atmosphere among the exhibitors was palpable as we could see thousands of people arriving and queuing to get in from early in the morning. Nearly 100,000 people attended the show over the 6 days!

On Sunday at 6pm there was a massive cheer from the exhibitors when the announcement came over that the show was closed for 2016. For most that meant another 3-4 hours of taking down the stands before they could go home. 

The sea of hi-vis re-appeared and by the time we left the sparkies had unwired the electrics, the carpets were being taken up and the car parks were near empty. They all get a few days off now before they do it all over again for the Cat Show!