About the Quartzsite Shows
The inaugural Quartzsite RV Show opened on January 28th, 1984 at the corner of Hwy 95 (now Central) and Business 10 (now Main Street) in Quartzsite, Arizona. With just 60 exhibitors and a small tent, the "new show in town" was still very popular since the majority of the people in Quartzsite we're RVers. In 1987 the show, now re-named The Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show, moved up the street to the Quartzsite Trailer Park which was situated directly across from the major attraction in town, and is still "The straw that stirs the drink in Quartzsite", The Quartzsite Pow Wow. For the next several years the Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show enjoyed a tremendous run and
huge crowds, with the largest crowds of all, showing up during the 5-day Quartzsite Pow Wow.
This new home for The Quartsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show lasted 10 years and the RV Show grew to a point where the current 3.5 acre show site could barely hold the number of exhibitors that were now vying for exhibit space at this popular annual event. In 1997 the "BIG TENT", as the show had become known, moved across the freeway to it's present home, just 1/2 mile South of I-10 on Hwy 95. ( now 700 S. Central) The new 20 acre facility, a former dry campground, was just what the doctor ordered for the expanding show. At that time in Quartzite, parking was almost impossible to find, legally. With the new Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show show grounds, the show was able to offer over 15 acres of public parking and the promoters, Kenny King and Mal Mallory, made the decision to offer their parking FREE to the public, while many other of the shows in town were already starting to charge to park. It was obviously a wise decision as in 1997, their first year at the new site, a major change in traffic patterns occurred. During the major show days at Quartzsite that year, the infamous Quartzsite traffic jams that once clogged Main Street from one freeway off ramp to the other freeway offramp, shifted to the "South Side" of town. Luckily, the new Quartzite Shows show grounds had front and rear access. While the traffic was still terrible, the ability to flow the traffic through the Quartzsite Shows show grounds made it somewhat manageable. The new and permanent home of the Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show was a HUGE success!
In 1998 the promoters added a second show to their calendar and the 1st Annual Quartzsite Hobby, Craft & Gem Show was born. While the new Craft Show shared the same, beautiful, show facility, it did not attain the instant success that the RV Show had enjoyed back in 1984. In addition, the new show barely used 50% of the, then, 30,000 sq. ft. structure. During the inaugural Quartzsite Hobby, Craft & Gem Show, a long time customer and good friend, Eric Baltzar of Dri Wash & Guard, suggested that the promoters may want to consider bringing in some hot rods and classic cars to fill up the unused portion of the huge, totally carpeted structure, to attract more people to the Craft Show. The promoters took his suggestion into consideration, however they did not make a decision to go forward with the new car show until the later part of October, 1998. Now committed to the new Car Show, and with less than 90 days to get the job done, the promoters, and a few volunteers, descended on any and every car show in the southwest, passing out literature and talking to car owners. They also spent many hours e-mailing car clubs, car magazines and anyone else that was even, remotely, connected to hot rods, classic cars or car shows. By opening day they had received over 100 registrations and more that 120 cars actually attended the inaugural show. Not only did the new Quartzsite Rock & Roll Classic Car Show exceed all expectations, the crowd that showed up each day that weekend exceeded the entire attendance for the 1st Annual Quartzsite Hobby, Craft & Gem Show held the year prior! These beautiful and unique custom cars, hot rods, street rods, muscle cars and classic cars, combined with the Arts & Crafts, Hobby items, jewelry and gem displays, and, of course, a lot of RV stuff, made for a spectacular event and the future looked very bright for both shows. The promoters were shooting for 200+ cars for their 2000 car show and hit that number easily. With the great crowd that was attracted in 1999 & 2000, due to the popularity of the combined Hobby, Craft & Gem Show and Classic Car Show, the promoters knew the exhibitor list for the Craft Show would grow considerably. And it did! The Craft Show is now being referred to as "RV SHOW II", as the attendees are primarily RVers and many of the exhibitors are holdovers from the RV Show. If you cannot make the RV Show, you can see an awful lots of RV's and RV related exhibits, plus 100's of hot rods and classics during the Craft/Car show.
During the summer of 1998, the promoters finally settled a long and contentious litigation surrounding their purchase of the land. Once they were able to get free and clear title to their new show grounds, they immediately began upgrading the facility for the 1999 shows. In return for supplying the major portion of the water necessary to complete the re-paving project of Interstate 10 from the California border to Quartzsite, almost 18 acres of asphalt millings were laid down on the Quartsite Shows Show Grounds. This was a major improvement and nearly eliminated the number one exhibitor and customer complaint of the past; "It's too dusty!" Little did the promoters know at the time, but without the addition of this asphalt, there was no way that they would have been able to attract so many of the finest and most valuable hot rods, custom and classic cars in the Southwest to their new Classic Car Show in Quartzsite. Once the car owners heard that their cars would go inside the "BIG TENT" and that the show grounds and parking lot were under asphalt, the "too dusty" reputation of Quartzsite was a moot subject.
The promoters also added a sewage treatment area to facilitate better service for the 200+ exhibitor RVs camping on the Quartzsite Shows show grounds during the three shows. New and upgraded electrical service was added to the northern and southern borders of the Quartzsite Shows show grounds as well. We're talking about a major electrical upgrade here or as the head electrician from Trade Show Electric of Los Angeles, CA, who wires the show stated; "They're probably capable of powering up most of Quartzsite in a pinch!" Permanent water service was also installed throughout the Quartzsite Shows show grounds for the numerous food concessions and "live-aboard" exhibitors at the three shows. What was, only six months earlier, a barren piece of desert, is now a facility that is comparable to many fairgrounds across the country. Just prior to the 1999 shows, a foot-traffic gate was opened between the Quartzsite Shows show grounds and the 23 acre facility of The Tyson Wells Sell-A-Rama, the premier Rock, Gem and flea market in Quartzsite. Just like back in the old days, when the RV Show was situated across from the Pow Wow, the Quartzsite Shows and Tyson Wells now share in the huge amount of traffic that each show attracts by allowing a safer and shorter route for the public to navigate between these two major venues. With Tyson's new Craft Show, Prospector's Panorama and the Car/Craft Show open all at the same time, along with the expansion of the Rice Ranch selling area across Hwy 95, it gives the RVers a reason to extend their stay in the area. Many of the RV Show exhibitors have realized that the people that attend the Craft/Car show are also RVers and many have elected to stay on for the 5 day Hobby, Craft & Gem Show. The 2012 RV Show was one of the better shows in recent memory with crowds of RVers approaching those of the "good ol' days" and they are looking for bigger and better things next year.
Don't miss the Quartzsite Shows in 2013!