MEDIA RELEASE DATE: 7 February 2017

2017 AmeriCARna to be the best yet

Time to get revved up for AmeriCARna 2017 says South Taranaki District Council (STDC) events coordinator Jody Bloor.

“This year we’re celebrating AmeriCARna’s 10th Anniversary and it’s going to be huge,” says Jody.

“We’re expecting something like 800 cars this year which is massive, but preparations to welcome our visitors are well underway.”

This year sees the return of Opunake Beach to the itinerary, with the cars visiting the area on Wednesday 22 February.

“The day trip to Opunake gives the drivers a chance to enjoy the beach, take a look at the local shops and get some lunch from either one of the foodstalls at the beach or from a café uptown,” say Jody.

Beach Road will be closed to public vehicles so it is recommended that people wanting to view the cars park on a side street and walk down to the beach.

“The Opunake Business Association is really getting behind the event and the town will be buzzing with live music, a market day, activities, plus lots of delicious food.”

On Friday 24 February the cars will be heading to Hawera. They will be stopping in Stratford and then, driving via Kaponga and Manaia, along SH45 into Hawera where they will spend the afternoon before returning to New Plymouth.

In Hawera’s CBD there will be music by the popular duo ‘Glorybox and Friends’ and a market day with the local businesses entering in a window dressing competition.

The AmeriCARna vehicles in Hawera will be parked on High Street (from Argyle St to Caledonia St) and in the Community Centre carpark. Albion Street (from High St to Erin St) will also be closed for the extremely popular Repco Go-Stop Drags.*

“With all these cars in town parking will be at a premium so it’ll be a good idea to car pool or to walk to work on that day,” Jody says.

“We’re really excited to have AmeriCARna visit South Taranaki again. The community and businesses always get behind this event and make it a really successful and entertaining day.”

Jody also reminds motorists to be extra vigilant during the celebration.

“Thanks to support from the Taranaki Vehicle Events Trust and TSB Community Trust we are busing some children in from schools outside the towns so they can be involved in the either the Opunake or Hawera event. There will be lots of young people checking out the cars so motorists will need to take extra care.”

Timings

Opunake - cars arrive at 12noon and depart at 2.30pm.

Hawera - cars arrive at 1.15pm and depart at 4.45pm

The vehicles will be in Inglewood on Thursday 23 February and in New Plymouth for the big AmeriCARnival festival on Saturday 25 February.

ENDS

Go-Stop Drags*

Go – Stop is an event where competitors charge off from the start line and head for a set of cones at the other end of the straight. When they reach the other end they have to come to a complete stop inside the cones - the competitor that completes this task in the fastest time is the winner. This discipline needs a combination of good acceleration and braking capabilities - the bigger vehicles with more horsepower can get away quicker, but the smaller, more nimble cars stop quicker. Lots of noise, smoke and fun …this event was a real crowd favourite last year.

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