(14 Jul 2019, 8:18 pm)MurdnunoC wrote

I think what I find more worrying is even the most die-hard and committed enthusiasts are now finding that they have better things to do rather than attending these events (and I don't blame them). The future of rallies in the north-east seems rather bleak if you ask me.

Certainly wouldn't recommend this one to anyone - either day.  I was amazed to see (admittedly hardly any) people paying to get into the field to see the 'display' today.  I counted a grand total of 8 vehicles, only 3 of which weren't from NEBPTs own stock.  Aside from the obvious limitation of the lack of buses, there also appeared to be relatively few cars/other vehicles and very few of those looked to be especially 'vintage'.  There was also a dearth of stalls from what I could see.  All in all this didn't leave much to do in between the shuttles - which were only once an hour.  The ones I sampled had good loadings, close to capacity on some, and it was a shame they weren't more frequent (though that would have left the field even emptier!).  The Festival of Transport has never been particularly well attended, but this year was the worst by a long way, by exhbitors and visitors alike.  I hope it doesn't impact negatively on the viability of the August Bank Holiday Seaburn rally which was always great - always seemed odd to have two in the same place so close together, and moving this earlier in the calendar seems to have done nothing to help. A real disappointment.