WESTIVA X... the big day

Saturday morning dawned cool and showery so I was a little worried about the weather. But by the time we left the house to make our way to the venue the sky was well on its way to clearing and the temperature was rising. Two of the attendees, Bob from Pasco WA and Ryan from the Edmonton area, had stayed with us on Friday night so we headed out together with an initial stop at a local gas station so that Ryan could fill up.

Bob's, Ryan's and my Festiva just getting ready to leave. Yes that is a trailer behind Ryan's car!

We were running a little late so I headed off leaving Bob and Ryan to follow at a more leisurely pace.

Westiva X... almost there!

Westiva 2017 attendees

Well here we are on the eve of Westiva X. The weather is looking quite pleasant with a forecast highs ranging from of 18º-20ºC/64º-68ºF with a mix of sun and cloud.

WESTIVA X... two weeks to go

Fourteen days from now Festivas and other econoboxes will be making their way to Wedge Pond in Alberta's Kananaskis Country. Why, you may ask? Well let me tell you... Westiva X is the reason.

And if you're heading to the venue from Calgary may I suggest a scenic alternative to the Trans Canada Highway? It takes a little longer but its well worth it. Bow Valley Trail (or highway 1A) begins at the western edge of the City of Calgary as the extension of Crowchild Trail. This first stretch is four lane divided highway until you reach the top of the hill above Cochrane AB where it drops to one lane going down the hill. 

Looking westward to the Rocky Mountains over Cochrane AB

Stay on Bow Valley Trail all the way through Cochrane and across Highway 22 (about 15 minutes from Calgary city limits).

Westiva 2017: only 14 days to wait now

The print edition of the on-line article I posted last week was published yesterday in the driving section of the Calgary Herald... apparently we "Festiva aficionados are having a love-in"! The text of the article hasn't changed but we all got a chuckle out of the headline

The weather forecast is looking great with a high of 26ºC (79ºF) and only a slight chance of late day showers; that being said the event is a go rain or shine.

Westiva 2017... four weeks and counting.

As I write this post Westiva 2017 is only four weeks away. What is Westiva you ask? Answers to that question can be found by following this link.

Some of the attendees at Westiva 2016

We are getting excited as this year's event is shaping up to be the biggest ever. We have confirmed attendees from Kentucky, Washington State, Georgia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. There is also a possibility of at least one Festiva coming up from Arizona! We have several of our "regulars" coming along with a number of first timers. 

If you have a Festiva, an Aspire, or one of many of the econoboxes from the late '80's and early '90's come and join us. If you don't and are wondering what all the fuss is about please stop by to have a look and ask your questions.

Watch this space for weekly updates!

Westiva 2016 photos

In spite of the rainy weather we had a great day! Final tally: five Festivas and one Suzuki Swift convertible.

Of the five Festivas only two were stock and only one of those was an automatic. The other three had engine swaps and some other custom work. Even the Swift had some modifications in the engine bay!

Joe and his friend Brian drove in from Saskatoon and won the "Long Distance" award, a gift card from RockAuto.

Joe's military themed Fesitva

1.8l DOHC sourced from an Escort GT

Those are not bombs but speaker enclosures!

Julian drove down from Edmonton to join us in his B6 SOHC swapped Festiva...

This definitely qualifies as a low budget build. Julian paid less than $200 for the car, sold about $100 worth of parts off it which he put back into the car, then used bit and pieces he had lying around to put it all back together. Net cash out of pocket... $160!!

Julian was accompanied by Ryan and his family in their stock '93 Festiva. This car has seen a lot of misfortune over the years that Ryan has owned it but it keeps going strong. They are planning a cross country trip in their Festiva for next year and making some improvements and modifications to make the trip a little more comfortable.

Next to arrive was Sara, a family friend, in her '93 Festiva with automatic transmission. Other than the aftermarket wheels this car is stock.

Our special guest this year was Drew from Calgary in his Suzuki Swift convertible. The engine bay features a 1.0l 3 cylinder turbocharged engine which I believe was sourced from a Swift GTI, as were the wheels.

I had my B6T Festiva there as well of course. You can go to this page if you would like to learn more about it.

A Westiva regular call me in the morning to say that he wasn't able to join us and the gentleman I was expecting from Macon, Georgia had to cancel at the last minute. Met some new friends, lots of car talk, great ice cream... all in all a great day.  Looking forward to Westiva 2017 already. 

Thanks to RockAuto.com for providing some giveaways and the gift card that was used for the long distance  award. Thanks also to Rallysport.ca for making the Westiva 2016 stickers for us.

Here's a few more shots of the meet...

 

Thanks most of all to all those that were able to join us on a rainy day. Comments and questions would be greatly appreciated... use the space below. 

Westiva is only a few days away!

Only a few days left until Westiva (details in the featured post). Looking forward to reconnecting with long time friends and meeting new ones.

Should be an interesting day. There will be at least three Festivas there with different engine swaps, ours with the Mazda 1.6l DOHC turbo, one with a Mazda 1.8l DOHC and another with a 1.6l SOHC. One of our regular attendees will be there with the 1990 Festiva LX he bought new and still drives almost every day.

Come back early next week to see photos of the day! For now, here's one taken by our son from the top of "The Wedge" during our 2011 meet....

Westiva @ Wedge Pond Day Use area. July,2011