The flag drop demonstration was a highlight of the 2024 Rebel Roundup car show in Central Hawke’s Bay. Photo / Charlotte Rowlands Photography
The dust has settled after last month’s Rebel Roundup car show at Back Paddock Lakes, and people are already lining up for next year’s event.
But organiser Brett Forlong says there’s a bit of tweaking to be done before he announces the next one.
“For a start - we need to make sure Pink isn’t showing her face in New Zealand next March,” he says. The popular singer’s sold-out Auckland concerts enticed away more than a few of Brett’s Rebel Roundup attendees... and his staff.
“We’ll need to look at the date for next year as well, as Back Paddock Lakes is booked for the weekend we’d be looking at. It was an amazing venue - really special. I’m also looking to ‘round up’ a naming sponsor.
The event itself went really well, Brett says.
“As a spectacle it was a huge success, and those who attended weren’t disappointed. It was an amazing day.”
Car enthusiasts attended from as far afield as Pahia and Invercargill - hometown of the nitromethane burning Chevy Vega Nostalgia Funny Car that attracted a lot of interest at the event.
“Rebel Roundup isn’t a static car show,” says Brett. “There are flag drop demonstration races, cars driving around the lake circuit, the Miss Rockabilly and Miss Rebel Roundup pageants.
“In the evening there was a live band, and cars parked up around the stage, people up dancing, it’s a very cool and unique experience. People have been telling me ‘we can’t wait till next year’.
“Everyone really got into it - but enjoyment doesn’t pay the bills so we need to give next year a bit of thought.”
Brett says support and funding from HB Tourism was invaluable, and the event used local suppliers where possible, including CHB Lions who he says “did a wicked job on the gate”.
Main sponsors of the event were NZ Rodder, NZ Petrolhead and Classic Cover insurance, and Brett is putting together proposals to bring more sponsorship on board - potentially a naming sponsor.
“A settlement without a newspaper is like a dumb man; it has no voice.”