Grill-n-Chill ’22
Words by Dereck Johnson & Photos by Calli Faraway
As was the case for many shows this year, Grill-n-Chill returned after a two-year enforced break and what a return it was too. A weekend bathed in glorious weather, fields full of happy people and an eclectic mix of cars.
Before discussing the event, I must disclose that I used to promote and run this show alongside Anton, Darren, Jon and the wonderful Paintscrapers family. However, during the pandemic, I decided to step back from my role. No falling out or creative differences, for me it was just time to focus on something else. This meant I could finally enjoy Grill-n-Chill as a visitor and see things from the other side.
For those that haven’t visited Grill-n-Chill over the last decade, this isn’t your usual Volkswagen show. In fact, it’s never been promoted as a VW event. It’s certainly built on those laid-back attitudes but the event has a chilled festival vibe and always attracts a wide selection of VWs, air & water-cooled Porsches, Classic Cars, Hot Rods and Customs.
Unless you’re one of the first to arrive, driving past the Hop Farm fields offers an exciting view of what’s to come. Once at the gate, the friendly faces made sure we all had a warm welcome and were pointed in the right direction to pitch up camp. I have to shout out to the whole Paintscrapers VW Club, who worked tirelessly over the weekend at the gate and throughout the whole showground. Without those individuals, this event wouldn’t be half as friendly or as successful as it is. You folks really help to make Grill-n-Chill what it is – Thank you.
The campsite forms part of the event. Wether you’re camped with your club, with a few mates or on your own – the vibe is amazingly friendly. It’s so nice to see kids of all ages having fun, enjoying the freedom and the conversations in a genuinely family-friendly environment. Everyone appeared happy to be there, switched off for the weekend grilling and chilling with like-minded folk.
This leads me on to the evening – this was where the ‘chill’ in Grill-n-Chill lived up to its name. Boy, did the temperature drop once the sun disappeared for the day. However, this didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits. They either stoked their fire pits or headed for the on-site bar, The Dray – where Friday night’s entertainment was handled by Thomas Abrahams and the Blue Reef Festival crew.
Saturday usually sees the show field handed over to the clubs to put on their displays and, in the past, has been, well, pretty light in numbers. I’d normally say this was down to most people enjoying their Friday evening a little too much. This year though, saw the whole show area filled with amazing rides of all types. This set the scene for what would hopefully be an extremely high-quality turnout for the actual Show-n-Shine the following day.
Cool-Flo were running BMX displays on their mini-ramp throughout the weekend, which gave a chance to kick back and take a break from the cars. Alongside them in the big marquee, the BMX-Life guys curated a superb BMX show-n-shine, open to all and sparked many conversations and stories of days gone by. Entertaining the smaller visitors was Raggedy Jack, the storyteller. While the smaller ones may have been his intended audience, the older ones enjoy his madcap tales just as much, and I include myself in that group too. A new addition to this year’s afternoon entertainment lineup was Rootzie, The Reggae Man – he’s truly a one-man show and deserves a big show of appreciation. There may not have been a big crowd around him by the marquee, but listening to conversations around the show field as he performed, it was obvious everyone was enjoying his songs. Saturday night in The Dray was busy with people enjoying Subtle Hustle, a London-based rock trio, delivering a great performance.
Sunday dawned with another glorious sunrise, and I finally had a chance to mooch around the trade stalls – which, on reflection, is more like a trade village. You can find everything from car parts to dog treats. The team did a great job of ensuring a good mix of different traders rather than endless rows of ‘t-shirt and hat’ type stalls. One stall that always had a large crowd was Reptile Events, where it was hard to separate the squeaks of fear from the shouts of excitement.
Back to the show field, which had filled up quickly with an amazing selection of vehicles. Grill-n-Chill is easily one of the best shows to see a real mix of rides. Everything from a modified Mazda Scrum pick-up in Gulf livery to a hand-made bare aluminium Porsche 550 Spyder replica – my personal favourite. With such a wide variety, judging the Show-n-Shine is no easy task which this year fell on James Wotton, Vee Dub Performance, Jon Sanderson, Unity Low Riders and Volksworld editor Paul Knight.
Rather than different classes, there are two main groups of prizes. The first, is for the Top Ten. In no particular order, just the judges’ selection of ten outstanding cars. Followed by five Rad Ride trophies for those vehicles that are felt to be that little bit different. Then there’s Judges Choice, pretty self-explanatory, and this year was awarded to Lewis Barrow and his sublime aluminium Porsche Spyder. And that just left the Best in Show trophy, which was taken home by James Rutland in his beautiful, highly detailed 356 Outlaw.
The show trophies are different every year, and I’ve been responsible for signwriting and pinstriping them. This year the prizes were baseball bats, expertly painted by Dale Restoration and lettered by me, AKA Von Dirk – even though I’d retired from the show. With all the trophies handed out, imagine my surprise when Anton announced another award – especially as I’d only lettered 17 bats… This extra ‘special thanks’ bat had been expertly striped and lettered by Neil Melliard and was handed over to yours truly – for services rendered. I hadn’t expected this and to say I was a little choked up, was an understatement.
Grill-n-Chill 2022 was a truly magical event for many reasons and I’m really glad to have experienced it as a visitor at last. The team behind the show put so much effort into ensuring the event delivers a great weekend for everyone who attends. Now you may say I’m a little biased, and that may be fair but this was truly a great weekend. I’d strongly suggest you all add it to your calendar for next year.
Thanks to Anton, Darren, Jon and Arrann, to all the Paintscrapers and everyone who joined in making Grill-n-Chill a success. The smiles on people’s faces as they drove out of the Hop Farm said it all, good times were had by all.
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