Weekend Ticket: Euro Fest car show rolls into town Friday, Saturday

Published 12:20 am Thursday, April 12, 2018

By SABRINA SIMMS

NATCHEZ — The 2018 Euro Fest Classic European Auto & Motorcycle Show will be 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday indoors at the former Southwest Distributors location at, 101 High St., Natchez.

The event, originally scheduled for last weekend at Rosalie, was postponed due to inclement weather and will now be held indoors due to another threat of inclement weather.

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Euro Fest is open and free to attend.

Beginning Friday entered vehicles will drive in from both Memphis and New Orleans and may be seen en route to Natchez via U.S. 61 and the Natchez Trace before they meet at the National Guard Armory on Liberty Road.

From there a 30- to 40-car caravan will depart at 4:30 p.m. Friday and drive to the Hotel Vue, 130 John R Junkin Dr.

This, the third annual Euro Fest in Natchez, will feature 16 different model year classes of European vehicles, including cars, motorcycles, airplanes, according to Mike Marsh, president of Marsh Marketing Inc. and the producer of the 2018 Natchez Euro Fest.

“Expect to see a vast array of European automobiles,” Marsh said. “Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, Bentley, etc. … The whole purpose of the Natchez Euro-Fest is to bring together a nice collection of European automobiles for public viewing.”

The Euro Fest also will feature a performance of the national anthem and a color guard. Bagpipes will be played and “southern bells” will stroll around to entertain visitors.

“Cars will come as far away as St. Louis, Memphis, Little Rock, Dallas, Houston, Pensacola and Atlanta,” Marsh said. “It’s a significant, regional European automobile show.”

Marsh said the Natchez Euro Fest is a spin-off of the Renaissance Euro Fest Classic European Auto and Motorcycle Show that will host its 10th annual show 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct 13, 2018, at the Renaissance at Colony Park shopping mall in Ridgeland.

Attending the event and entering the show are both free. However, all entries must be European car models. Vehicles are classified according to the model year, and Marsh said awards would be presented to the best of 16 different vehicle classes — including vintage, classic or modern.

Other awards include the Mayor’s Travel Awards, seven Sponsors Choice Awards and the Best of Natchez Vintage and Nouveau.

Applications to participate in the Euro Fest can be submitted via the website euro-fest.net. Marsh said anyone who would like more information should contact him at 601-946-1950.

“To see an imported auto show of this caliber, you’d have to go to Houston or Pensacola,” Marsh said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for people to see automobiles they’ve probably heard of but have never seen before.”