The sounds of mufflers, music and the occasional sputter will be echoing between the heritage buildings in downtown Ladysmith on Aug. 17 for the 21st Ladysmith Show ’n’ Shine.
Having taken a break for a couple of years due to the pandemic, the show has seen a resurgence since it came back three years ago.
“We would average almost 200 vehicles a show, but since the pandemic ended our show has been discovered,” said this year’s chair Martin Byrne. “There is a show, on Father’s Day, that is huge but probably after that the Ladysmith event is the second largest."
The event also involves other organizations such as the Lions Club who have their food concession located at First Avenue and High Street and their members cook up hot dogs and hamburgers. At around 8 a.m. the Lions start making their unique breakfast sandwich for folks arriving early.
The Kinsmen Club host a beer garden and hotdog booth in the parking lot of the library starting at 11 a.m.
“It’s usually hot walking up and down the street admiring all the hard work the vehicle owners put in, so we give folks a chance to sit and have a cold one,” said Kinsmen chair Chad Walsh. “It’s a great opportunity for spectators to take a few minutes and fill out the ballot for their favourite vehicle in the show.”
One of the feature awards in the car show is the people’s choice award, and trophies for first, second and third, are handed out for the cars voted on by the spectators.
“We have an award for the coolest paint job, and that one is sponsored by Little Valley Restorations and Glass," Byrne said. "We have the participants choice award, selected by owners of vehicles in the show, and this year there is an award in memory of long time enthusiast Fred Davidson. That trophy will go to the best open top vehicle in the show.”
There will also be 50/50 draws during the event.
“We want to remind folks that First Avenue will be totally closed, Saturday, Aug. 17, starting at 6:30 a.m. until 4 p.m." Byrne said. "This includes parking on both sides of First Avenue, from Roberts Street to Warren Street along with the east side of High Street to the alley.”
"We also want to remind people attending that the Town of Ladysmith bylaw does not allow for dogs to be on First Avenue during special events and that includes the Show ’n’ Shine.”
Byrne said the event brings a huge crowd to Ladysmith.
“One year we looked up the road and the entire main street was filled with people so we did a head count on one block there were 250 people on that one block alone. We multiplied that by the number of blocks the show occupied and we came up with in excess of 2,000 people in that moment and assuming the crowd turns over a few times through the day we can conservatively estimate well over 5,000 people visit our town on the day of the Ladysmith Show and Shine."
This year there will be no live music, but the sound company is providing tunes appropriately picked for the type of venue. The committee felt that spectators came to see the vehicles and not a band so it was a way of keeping costs down by not paying for the live music. Recorded music will still provide atmosphere.
Mizu Ice Cream will have a concession, as will Extreme Mac and Cheese and a funnel ice cream cake outfit, for those wanting to whet their appetites while at the show.
The whole town benefits from the event, said Byrne.
"I have met people from all over the island, on the mainland and even in Alberta that are aware of Ladysmith and the many events we host so yes, the Ladysmith Show and Shine is a good feature for our community.”
Like many of the town's successful events the car show is driven by volunteers.
"Our volunteer numbers grow on the day of the show as we have other groups involved and we try to involve as many community organizations as are interested," Byrne said. "On the wide spectrum I wouldn't be surprised to see the scope up to as many as 60 or 70.”
"A weekly car meet is hosted by the Oyster Bay A&W and they sponsor a rod run on Friday evening before the show. There are opportunities for more groups to join us as well. The core group consists of 10 people that all bring something to the table. And I have to take this moment to thank all of them for their contributions. A longtime participating group that does our parking is the Pacific Coast Mustang Association. Without them we would be having a hell of a time parking all the valuable and amazing vehicles."
Registration for the show begins at 7 a.m. at First and Warren with the official opening at 10 a.m.
