Cars and crowds driving in for rally | Manawatu-Wanganui News | Local News in Manawatu-Wanganui

Organisers of the international vintage car rally being hosted in Wanganui in the New Year say the nearly 700 entries have pushed them well ahead of their budget for the 12-day event.

Ed Boyd, the VCC Rally publicity officer, said they were "thrilled" with the number of entrants.

"We did our budget on a certain number of entries, and we're well in excess of that," Mr Boyd said.

Among those visitors will be 146 people coming from overseas.

He said if all of the almost-700 vintage vehicles turned up in the central city it would pose major parking problems. "To give you some idea, there are 156 car parks in the Avenue between Guyton St and Ridgway St," he said.

The first of the historic cars is expected to arrive in the city on Monday, January 16, and will be welcomed at Moutoa Gardens at 12.30pm. That day the rally village at Springvale Park will come to life, with outdoor entertainment, food and a bar.

Mr Boyd said the next day (January 17) the VCC Rally will be officially opened at 3pm, again at the rally village, and that evening will also mark the start of night-time entertainment on the main stage in the Jubilee Stadium. Several groups and performers have been signed up, and it will mean a different theme on the main stage at Jubilee for 10 nights in a row, beginning on January 17 and finishing on January 26.

The eclectic musical mix includes Freddy Flash and Firebirds, the Wellington Ukulele Orchestra, the Roseneath Ragtime Band, the Beat Girls, and Brass Wanganui leading the Last Night of the Proms.

Mr Boyd said rally activity involving the vintage cars kicks into life on January 18 and between then and January 26 there will be six separate rallies involving those vehicles.

"Those taking part in the rally routes will cover all six of them on different days and these will take the cars from the city out to Marton, Ratana, Feilding and up the Whanganui River Rd," he said.

Mr Boyd said while the cars and visitors will become common sights around the city, the public will have a chance to get up close to them at the open day being staged at Wanganui Racecourse on January 22.

He said they were expecting more than 25,000 people to flock to the event on the Sunday of Wellington Anniversary weekend.

Organisers will also be producing a special rally "newspaper" for most days during the event.

"We've got two people working on Wobbly Wheels and each day it will run to four A4 pages. We hope to have a bumper 12-page edition for the last day of the event," Mr Boyd said.

The rally organisers expect the rally to generate $12 million for the local economy with many visitors booking into local accommodation.