WESTIVA... now and then

Westiva, the annual Festiva meet in Alberta's Kananaskis Country, continues with new hosts and a new date. It's being held on Saturday, August 24th. Search google maps for Wedge Pond, Kananaskis, AB for directions to the venue.

Sharon and I decided that 2018 would be our last year as hosts and we're glad to see Ryan Prins take on the project. Automotive writer Greg Williams has written several articles about this event and this year is no exception. Here's the link to the latest.

Over the years there have been as few as four cars to as many as ten. This year looks like it might have the largest attendance yet with Festiva owners coming from as far away as San Jose, California. Others are coming from Idaho, Montana, BC, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Finding parts

Even the "newest" Festiva is now over 25 years old and parts are getting increasingly harder to find.  The local franchise parts stores are hit and miss on most parts but RockAuto continues to be a fairly good source. 

 

One owner '91 Ford Festiva GL. Picture taken July '18

Automobile manufacturers have been equipping their offerings with larger and larger tires. Econoboxes from the 80's and 90's were sold with mostly 13" tires and some, including all years of Festiva in the North American market, were shod with 12" diameter wheels and tires!!

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... seven more sleeps!!!

Westiva X is shaping up to be an awesome event. The weather forecast calls for temperatures of 25ºC/77ºF. Bring your sunscreen, bring your camera, wear a hat!

 

Westiva 2017 attendees

Wondering what you can expect to see when you come to Westiva X? Glad you asked!

Westiva X

It's that time of year again!

Artwork courtesy of Ben G. Rogers

Westiva is very casual, informal event originally geared towards owners, fans and fanatics of both the Ford Festiva or Ford Aspire with invitations extended to owners of other econoboxes from the late eighties and early nineties such as the Dodge Colt, Chevrolet Sprint, Geo Metro, Suzuki Swift and Nissan Micra.

Westiva 2017... hard to believe that it's only seven days away!

Westiva 2017 is shaping up to be an awesome event. The weather forecast calls for temperatures of 35ºC/95ºF, or as Accuweather puts it... "hot with sizzling sunshine"! Bring your sunscreen, bring your camera, wear a hat!

All of these will be at Westiva 2017 except for the red one.

Wondering what you can expect to see when you come to Westiva 2017? Glad you asked! Here's a small sampling:

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 2016

Plans are well under way for this year's edition of Westiva. This will be the 8th time we've hosted the event at the picturesque Wedge Pond Day Use Area in Alberta's beautiful Kananaskis Country.

Westiva is very casual, informal event originally geared towards owners, fans and fanatics of both the Ford Festiva or Ford Aspire with invitations extended to owners of other econoboxes from the late eighties and early nineties such as the Dodge Colt, Chevrolet Sprint, Geo Metro, Suzuki Swift and Nissan Micra.

The "official" start time is around 10:00am. At about 1:00pm we’ll cruise up to the Boulton Creek Trading Post in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park for ice cream, about a 30km drive. From there we'll continue to Upper Kananaskis Lake.

2010 attendees (This shot was taken before the tenth car arrived)

When Westiva was first held in 2008 there were four attendees. Two from Calgary, one from the lower mainland of British Columbia and the fourth driving up from Worland WY. Our best year attendance-wise was 2010 when we had 10 Festivas show up with the furthest being from Ontario. 

In keeping with our expanded area of interest we had the owner of a Suburau Vivio RXR come to the 2012 edition. There was no event in 2013 due to significant flooding in southern Alberta

The 2014 event saw a couple of Suzuki Swifts in attendance, one from Calgary and the other from Spruce Grove AB. We also had owners bringing the cars from as far away as Pasco WA and St. Albert SK.

Westiva 2014 attendees.

Westiva 2015 attendees

Looking forward to some long distance attendees this year! Festiva owners in Georgia, Utah and Montana have expressed an interest in coming up. If the exchange rate on the Canadian vs. US dollar stays anywhere close to where it is today it would make for an inexpensive trip! 

Speaking of distances... if you're thinking of coming here are some approximate one way travel distances:

Great Falls MT: 400 miles
Spokane WA: 425 miles
Portland OR: 775 miles
San Sioux Falls SD: 1250 miles
Denver CO: 1175 miles
Fransisco CA: 1300 miles
Los Angeles CA: 1600 miles
Kansas City MO: 1600 miles
Phoenix AZ: 1625 miles
Louisville KY: 2000 miles
Knoxville TN: 2200 miles
Raleigh NC: 2475 miles
Miami FL: 3025 miles

Edmonton AB: 400 km
Vancouver BC: 950 km
Saskatoon SK: 725 km
Regina SK: 875 km
Winnipeg MB: 1425 km
Toronto ON: 3500 km
Montreal QC: 3625 km

So consider yourself invited! I hope to have my new Festiva project car done in time for the meet.


8th ANNUAL WESTIVA

When: Saturday July 16, 2016
Where: Wedge Pond Day Use Area, Kananaskis, Alberta
Who: Ford Festiva and Aspire fans and anyone interested along with owners, fans etc of other econoboxes from the era.
Why: Why not?

If you'd like more information either leave a comment here or check out the "Meets & Events" section at FordFestiva.com

Update: It was a great day! Follow this link for a bit of a write up and some photos.

Westiva 2015: an event for econobox fans!

On July 11th we will be hosting Westiva 2015. This will be the seventh time we've held this event with the first being in 2008.

2008 attendees with 'The Wedge' in the background.

Westiva is very casual, informal event originally geared towards owners, fans and fanatics of both the Ford Festiva or Ford Aspire with invitations extended to owners of other econoboxes from the late eighties and early nineties such as the Dodge Colt, Chevrolet Sprint, Geo Metro, Suzuki Swift and Nissan Micra.

The meet is held at the picturesque Wedge Pond Day Use Area in beautiful Kananaskis Country. The "official" start time is around 10:00am. At about 1:00pm we’ll cruise up to the Boulton Creek Trading Post in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park for ice cream, about a 30km drive. From there we'll continue to Upper Kananaskis Lake.

2010 attendees (This shot was taken before the tenth car arrived)

When Westiva was first held in 2008 there were four attendees. Two from Calgary, one from the lower mainland of British Columbia and the fourth driving up from Worland WY. Our best year attendance-wise was 2010 when we had 10 Festivas show up with the furthest being from Ontario. This year we already have owners bringing the cars from as far away as Pasco WA and St. Albert SK.

In keeping with our expanded area of interest we had the owner of a Suburau Vivio RXR come to the 2012 edition. There was no event in 2013 due to significant flooding in southern Alberta

The 2014 event saw a couple of Suzuki Swifts in attendance, one from Calgary and the other from Spruce Grove AB.

Westiva 2014 attendees.

So consider yourself invited! I hope to have my new Festiva project car done in time for the meet.


7th ANNUAL WESTIVA

When: Saturday July 11, 2014
Where: Wedge Pond Day Use Area, Kananaskis, Alberta
Who: Ford Festiva and Aspire fans and anyone interested along with owners, fans etc of other econoboxes from the era.
Why: Why not?

If you'd like more information either leave a comment here or check out the "Meets & Events" section at FordFestiva.com

WESTIVA 2014... more photos

Here are a few more photos from the Westiva meet held last month. Enjoy...

Promised engine shot of Casey's 1.0L 3 cylinder turbo

Casey's Swift

Brad's Festiva in its current trim.

Upper Kananaskis Lake where we dipped our toes in the water.

On the road up to Boulton Creek Trading Post.

Thanks to Wilf and Brad for sending these. 


Brad also posted a little video of the drive from Wedge Pond up to the Boulton Creek Trading Post....

Thanks again to everyone who made it out. See you again next year, July11!

WESTIVA 2014

July 12 dawned with clear skies and very little wind. The forecast was looking great as well with a high of 30°C/86°F predicted.

We had announced an 'official' start time of 10:00am so made sure we left home with plenty of time to spare. We arrived at the Wedge Pond day use area in Kananaskis with two Festivas, mine and my daughters, just after 9:30 and claimed a few parking spots. I have to admit right off the top that I spent way too much time talking with everyone and not taking photos.  

First to arrive was Casey in his green/gold 89 Suzuki Swift GS. This car was originally from Holland and as such had a few differences from the North American version. Casey has totally rebuilt the engine with a number of performance enhancing modifications. The turbocharged 1.0L 3 cylinder is force fed with over 15lbs of boost and runs on 94 octane fuel. He showed up without his hood as it was in the middle of some rust repair. I most regret not getting a photo of his very clean engine bay.

 

Casey's 89 Swift GS

Next to pull in were Wilf and Roseanne in their bright red 90 Suzuki Swift GT from Spruce Grove AB. They purchased the car new in 1991 and other than a few minor touch ups it sports its original paint. Wilf tells me he had the car treated with RustChek shortly after he got it and kept the treatments up over the ensuing 20+ years. Add to that the car has been garaged all its life and driven only in the summer for the past six years explains how he has been able to keep it in such good condition. The engine bay of this red rocket sports a 1.3L DOHC 16 valve engine with a turbocharger hung on the front! He too has rebuilt this engine and added a few performance upgrades. The original plastic headlights have been replaced with glass units filled with HID bulbs and most of the factory decals have been removed. Other than that the body is stock and original.

Wilf & Roseanne's 1990 Suzuki Swift GT

We didn't have to wait too much longer for our next guest. Brad arrived in his gorgeous 1990 Ford Festiva. He and his daughter hail from Prince Albert SK. They drove down a couple of days early and had been camping at Mount Kidd RV Park, a five minute drive from our venue. Brad's car features shaved door handles, a fibreglass hood, custom front bumper and headlights, Nissan seats and a paint job featuring white base with a blue tinted clearcoat. His engine bay is stuffed with a 1.8L DOHC 16 valve engine sourced from a Ford Escort GT. Brad has been a regular at Westiva, this being his fourth time. Each time he's come there has been one or two upgrades too. I have to apologize to Brad as I didn't get any photos of his car so these are from past meets. The big difference for this year is that the engine compartment has been cleaned and tidied up considerably and a fibreglass hood has been installed.

Brad's 1990 Ford Festiva

Another 'regular' pulled in shortly after Brad's arrival. Tom's Festiva is currently immobile so he brought his lifted Kia Sportage. Being built by Kia and equipped with a Mazda based 2.0L DOHC engine, and FE-3 if I remember correctly, it fits right in with the Festiva family. The closest I got to a picture of Tom's little off road beast is the one in the group photo at the end of this post.

Our last arrival was Bob II and his son, Bob III, who had driven up from Pasco WA. The engine in their 1991 Festiva automatic had just been rebuilt and had only 500km/300 miles on it before heading out. While putting things back together Bob added power steering to complement the A/C that was already there. Both these items were optional when the cars were new. This was Bob's first time to Westiva and we're glad they came!

Bob's tidy engine bay.

Westiva has been primarily focused on the Ford Festiva but it was decided to include other econoboxes from the late 80s and early 90s as we are all facing similar issues as our cars age, like parts availability. It was great to have Casey, Wilf and Roseanne join us and hear of their exploits and adventures. They are members on the Teamswift.net forum.

I would like to thank Rockauto.com for providing a gift card to give away at the meet as the prize for the furthest traveled. This year it was presented to Bob who beat out Brad by only 40km/25miles.

L-R: Tom's Sportage, Brad's 90 Festiva, my daughter's '93, my '92, Casey's '89 Swift GS, Wilf's '90 Swift GT, Bob's '91 Festiva.

After a great time of car talk and a picnic lunch we all cruised south down Highway 40 to the Boulton Creek Trading Post in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. Why you may ask? For ice cream of course! And to enjoy the scenery and twisty roads. It's about a 30 minute drive from Wedge to the trading post and we managed to keep together fairly well. After a delicious and refreshing ice cream Brad had to leave us and head to meet family in Drumheller AB. Before continuing on to Upper Kananaskis Lake Bob and his son took their leave as well. They were heading back to their hotel and hitting the road early Sunday morning for the homeward trip.

A short, five minute, sprint brought those remaining to the parking lot at the lake. Most of us took the opportunity to dip our feet in but Casey was a bit more adventurous and dove in for a quick swim. We hung out together for a while and then went our separate ways, Wilf and Roseanne to Spuce Grove, Casey to the southern end of Calgary via the Highwood Pass, and the rest of us back home via the shortest route.

I think it's safe to say that a good time was had by all with everyone saying they are looking forward to coming again next year. Bob even said they would come with two of their four Festivas rather than just the one. Having the Suzukis there was a treat and hopefully this will encourage more to come as well. Thanks to everyone for making the day a great one!

Follow this link for more photos.

Upcoming event for econobox fans!

On July 12th we will be hosting Westiva 2014. This would have been the seventh annual but the event was cancelled last year due to significant flooding in Southern Alberta. 

 

2008 attendees with 'The Wedge' in the background.

Westiva is very casual, informal event originally intended for owners, fans and fanatics of both the Ford Festiva or Ford Aspire but we have recently extended invitations to owners of other econoboxes from the late eighties and early nineties such as the Dodge Colt, Chevrolet Sprint, Geo Metro, Suzuki Swift and Nissan Micra.

The meet is held at the picturesque Wedge Pond Day Use Area in beautiful Kananaskis Country. The "official" start time is around 10:00am. At about 1:00pm we’ll cruise up to the Boulton Creek Trading Post in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park for ice cream, about a 30km drive. From there we'll continue to Upper Kananaskis Lake.

2010 attendees (This shot was taken before the tenth car arrived)

When Westiva was first held in 2008 there were four attendees. Two from Calgary, one from the lower mainland of British Columbia and the fourth driving up from Worland WY. Our best year attendance-wise was 2010 when we had 10 Festivas show up with the furthest being from Ontario. This year we already have owners bringing the cars from as far away as Pasco WA and St. Albert SK.

In keeping with our expanded area of interest we had the owner of a Suburau Vivio RXR come to the 2012 edition.

So consider yourself invited!


6th ANNUAL WESTIVA

When: Saturday July 12, 2014
Where: Wedge Pond Day Use Area, Kananaskis, Alberta
Who: Ford Festiva and Aspire fans and anyone interested along with owners, fans etc of other econoboxes from the era.
Why: Why not?

Westiva 2012

SATURDAY JULY 14th, 2012

The 5th annual Westiva meet was held at Wedge Pond in beautiful Kananaskis country. Four Festivas made it along with a Subaru Vivio. A former Festiva owner and friend made it out along with his wife. Another owner made it out but unfortunately without his Festiva.

The weather was great for most of the day. The rain held off until after we had our ice cream at the Boulton Creek Trading Post.

Festivas and guest

The four Festivas

The white Festiva is an all original, one owner car. It's an LX so has all the desirable goodies, except the spoiler. Mine is the red one, I should probably do a post about it! The blue one has some suspension mods but is otherwise stock. It was driven from White Rock BC and won the long distance award. The fourth Festiva is from Calgary and is in what I would call rough but reliable shape. The stock headlights have been replaced with standard, large rectangular sealed beams; it has a rattle can paint job; one wiper arm is missing but it's the owner's daily driver!

Our "guest" is a Subaru Vivio RX-R, one of the Japanese Kei class cars. This little car is amazing! It has power windows, air conditioning and many more features that would normally be found on higher end cars.

Subaru Vivio

... all that plus an intercooler and only 660cc!

 Although attendance was a little lower than hoped we all had a great time talking car talk, comparing notes and enjoying some great ice cream after a 30 km cruise up to the Boulton Creek Trading Post.

I'd like to thank Richard Adrian of Interstate Batteries in Calgary for the hats and other goodies. Thanks too go out to Rockauto.com for the gift card and other giveaways!

There will be a Westiva 2013 so mark your calendars. Saturday July 13th, 2013!! We'll be inviting other subcompacts and econoboxes to join us again. Will we see any Suzuki Swifts or Dodge Colts? Keep watching this space!