As enthusiasts of the VW Scene we love nothing more than to visit VW shows we have never been to before. So you can imagine our excitement when we were invited to visit the Jogja VW Festival 2015 in Indonesia last month! We weren’t short of volunteers for this one, but it was company Chairman David, and MD Barney who boarded the 18 hour flight for Jakata, and went to experience the best of the Indonesian VW scene at their largest indoor event.
Officially opened by the reigional King, and accompanied by dancing girls, this was a serious event! Imagine The Queen at Volksworld; no, neither could we!
Guided by Dokke from Aircooled Way magazine and their translator, Princess, David and Barney were treated like celebrities. Taken on a group workshop tour of local restoration specialists Smart VW; where Health & Safety is yet to take hold, and repair panels are perfectly formed by hand on the ground, it was pretty amazing to say the least.
They also got to visit another local business that builds Karmann Ghia’s from scratch; from looking at the finished article you really would never know!!
The show itself was just as impressive too; whilst inside show cars glimmer under artificial light; it is outside that families gather, selling coconuts from their vans, eating picnics on the floor and all having a good time.
Barney was asked to present an award for his favourite vehicle at the show; which he awarded to a cool custom Volksrod. In fact, he wanted to take it home he liked it that much!!
Other cars at the show which really caught their eye, for obvious reason: A crazy Beetle roadster with monster rear wheels, a Trekker made of wood, a Type 3 Drag Racer and the longest Samba we’ve ever seen!
For those who are fans of the more traditional aircooled VWs, there were rows of beautifully finished Beetles, and a great offering of buses too.
To sum it up, a new scene to explore can rejuvinate your love for this hobby. Barney’s come back with big ideas and he’s not owned a Beetle for quite some time (stay tuned for his project news). We may not get back to Inodnesia for another few years, but can thoroughly recommend the Jogja VW Festival, and the hospility of the Volkswagen community there. Why not pencil in a brand new event to attend for 2016? Maybe we’ll see you there!
Andy
The opinions expressed here are the personal opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of VW Heritage.