Friday’s Kool Cruise. Photos by Jon Lewis.
There have been years when Mother Nature has frowned on Kool April Nites, one of the West Coast’s largest car shows and certainly one of Redding’s biggest weekends of the year.
But following some rain showers early in the week, the skies turned brilliant for the 21st annual event.
Between 10,000-15,000 people turned out to watch Friday’s cruise, where approximately 1,800 cars participated.
If you missed Saturday’s main show at the Redding Convention Center, the good news is Sunday’s admission is free at the venue. All the award-winning cars will be on display in front of the convention center.
One of the Dreamworks cars on display inside the convention center.
Plus the Dreamworks Display of hot rods and classic cars inside the convention center remains open to the public. In addition, the Asphalt Cowboys will be serving a pancake breakfast starting at 7 a.m. The Kool Car Corral, where cars for sale are on display, will also be a part of the festivities.
Sunday’s events wrap up by 1 p.m., so make sure you head down in the morning.
It’s hard to calculate the economic impact that this event has for Redding, but it’s got to be a big number. Hotels and restaurants fill up (not to mention all the tanks of gas), stores see a bump in business and the event donates all its admission proceeds to children’s charities. Thus far, charities have received more than $300,000 from the event.
But you also have to consider the amount of money spent on fixing up and painting cars by north state auto enthusiasts. These vehicles are truly works of art and people spend big bucks on their canvas.
The event continues to illustrate the fact that California remains a huge hotbed for auto enthusiasts. I’m sure much of this passion reflects our sense of the car being a symbol of freedom. There’s also deep nostalgia tossed into the mix. "I had one of these in high school and I always wanted to fix another one up."
And beyond that, it’s a massive social event. The cars become catalysts for conversation.
Was that an awkward moment? "Hey, what about that chrome?"
