Next weekend, April 5 and 6, Artesia’s Downtown District will host the 25th Annual Main Event Car Show and Cruise.
The event will begin with the cruise at 6 p.m. on Friday, followed by the Car Show from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Saturday, when the show will conclude with an award ceremony in Heritage Plaza. It should be noted that parking in the plaza and the lot at Texas Avenue and Fifth Street will be unavailable from Friday evening through the end of the event to allow the cars, trucks, motorcycles and tractors on display to spread down Main Street and Texas Avenue between Roselawn Avenue and Fifth.
This year, with the help of “Bike Blvd” and “Tractor Row,” the Artesia Chamber of Commerce hopes to break last year’s record of 250 entrants and set a new record of 300, as shown on the accompanying map.
Registration, which costs $30, is currently open online through the Chamber website at www.artesiachamber.com/main-event-car-show. Registration will also be available on-site from 1-5 p.m. Friday, April 5, in Heritage Walkway and at the corner of Texas and Roselawn from 7-11 a.m. on Saturday, April 6.
The event will kick off Friday evening at 6 p.m. when the entrants, from oldest to newest, will cruise their vehicles down Main Street from the Bulldog Bowl to Second Street and back again. Each decade, from 1910 to the present, will be led by a featured vehicle provided by one of Artesia’s three major car dealerships: Artesia Ford, Tate Branch Auto Group and Guy Chevrolet.
Leading the pack as a whole will be the Artesia Car Show’s inaugural “feature car,” a 1974 Dodge Monaco that appeared in the 1980 film “Blues Brothers.” The feature car, brought in by Redneck Roundup of Stanton, Texas, will be accompanied by a local who has volunteered to dress up and play a character from the film over the weekend.
Terry Todd, president of the Artesia Car Enthusiasts (ACE), explained the feature car is an addition he hopes to bring every year to grow the show and continue to attract car enthusiasts from near and far. According to Todd, the car show is sure to bring entrants from Arizona, Texas and Colorado and may even feature vehicles from as far as Oklahoma and Kansas. Todd explained some of these vehicles take months or years to become any version of show-ready, as many are found in farm fields, barns and garages by the initial restorer.
For the first time this year, the Artesia Car Enthusiasts are raffling off a fully functioning 1928 Ford Model A Pickup, donated to the club for fundraising purposes. Tickets, already on sale, can be purchased through the Chamber of Commerce or through ACE, for $20 apiece. Assuming the 1,400 tickets do not sell out, raffle tickets will remain available throughout the show until the award ceremony at 3 p.m. Saturday in Heritage Plaza.
Award categories include all decades from 1910 to 1980; “Everything Under the Sun,” which will include vehicles newer than 1980; motorcycles, bicycles, tractors, bombers and rat rods; as well as a People’s Choice and overall winner, whose trophy is nearly 3 feet tall.
This year spectators can vote for any eye-catching vehicle by scanning a QR code displayed in the vehicle’s windshield. Votes for all 12 categories will be unlimited except for the favorite category, for which each spectator can vote only once. Voting begins at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 6, and will conclude at 3 p.m.
Community members who may not be intimately acquainted with the inner workings of engines, fuel systems, or other aspects of restoration are encouraged to enjoy the event’s interactive features: a People’s Choice voting system, DJ and food truck court, among the usual downtown Artesia features such as colorful murals, coffees and local retailers.
Main Street will be closed from Roselawn to Fifth, ensuring the event will be traffic-free and family-friendly. The DJ, travelling in on his 70th birthday from Alamogordo, will play music from all decades from the plaza behind Heritage Walkway, one block away from Artesia MainStreet’s Food Truck Court, which will be located on the corner of Fifth and Texas. Food court vendors will be open Friday evening beginning at 5 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Several downtown retailers will be open for business, including The Brave Co., which will be offering in-store sales, giveaways and bonus treats as part of a first anniversary celebration. Lucille the Photo Bus will also be open near the Ocotillo Performing Arts Center.
“I’m excited that you’ll be able to see so many different genres of cars,” said Chamber of Commerce representative Jessica Bollema, who has worked closely with Artesia MainStreet and ACE to bring this event together.
Bollema also said it would be remiss to look forward to the 25th anniversary without remembering Frank Hammond, an Artesia resident, business owner, foster parent and car enthusiast who began the car show in 1999. A true testament to the legacy left behind by creative residents committed to promoting opportunities for all interests, at the 25th Annual Main Event Car Show and Cruise, “there will be something for everyone.”