The Freddy Files

Paul Knight whisks us along a fun-filled, 36-hour road trip to the Freddy Files show in Ninove, Belgium

- Paul Knight

For those amongst us who have attended a Freddy Files gathering in the past, the format will make perfect sense, however if you’ve never been before, you’d be forgiven for thinking that, on paper at least, it seems like quite an unorthodox set-up. i.e. we’re essentially talking about a whirlwind 36-hour tour of Europe to attend a one-day event in early March!

Yes, I think I’d better start at the top and explain exactly how this wild weekend works…

The master plan

Chatting with my good friends / regular camping crew Jolly Jim Warner and Peter Simpson on New Years Eve we concluded that we were missing the VW show season and that we should make an effort to kick 2018 into shape by hitting as many events as possible. And so, it was decided that we’d head over to Belgium to check out the annual Freddy Files event, which would be themed ‘The Thing Fling’ this time round.

The Freddy Files is organised by our old buddy Frederic Peeters (hence the Freddy Files title), this event has grown into a pretty major gathering over the years, and certainly has quite a following. It’s also unlike any UK event in as much as it is 100% air-cooled only and it’s not held at a showground or campsite, but simply takes place on the streets around the centre of a small town.

Held in the Belgian town of Ninove, the show is actually just a oneday affair (the Sunday) however, many people arrive early and stay over, hence there is a more casual gathering on the Saturday at a local brewery for those early birds.

The organisers also hold a ‘prebooked’ dinner / meet-up on the Saturday night, however the local bars and restaurants are always full, making this one of the liveliest evenings of the year in Ninove!