My American brothers are understandably excited about BrickCon, which takes place less than a week from now. Among British AFOLs and for myself, however, excitement is mounting for another event, the Great Western Brick Show, colloquially known as Steam. It is held in the coming weekend at STEAM – Museum of the Great Western Railway, in Swindon in the UK.
I myself will be there displaying my film and TV cars, but the show is practically a who’s who of British builders. For example:
- Carl Greatrix will be displaying trains, his recent cars and his F-4 Phantoms,
- Peter Reid, designer of the exo-suit, will be in attendance talking to fans and showing off his space models,
- the guys from Bright Bricks are preparing something huge (it is still a surprise, but as far as I know it is bigger than Intrepid),
- Warren Elsmore, the writer of Brick City and Brick Wonders will be displaying his new airport layout,
- Brick to the past, which is the collective of builders who brought us Tigelfah castle last year, will be displaying a large layout of Victorian-era London.
If you’re in the UK and don’t come to this show, you are missing out on what promises to be a great show. However, you can check out TV coverage of the event via Swindonweb TV. They will be broadcasting on Saturday, and include footage live from the show and interviews with some of the builders. Of course, you can also expect me to write an event report after I get back.
See you there Ralph Bright and early on Saturday Looking forward to meeting up with everyone again
I totally plan to be there, happy to see it up on TBB. Not sure which day, looks like Saturday might be where it’s at.
Y’know, every year I say to myself: next year, I’ll display at an event. The one that really sticks in my head is Steam. ::\ If anybody needs a table fleshing out, I’ll be wishing my bank supplied check books and overdrafts. That’s what I’d need right now to join the Brickish Assoc. Then… I dunno for sure how it works. Table hire, requesting space, talking to somebody I’ve never met about the dimensions of a table I might have to supply myself for all I know. Every step feels super complex, and I’ve not even mentioned the actual builds yet :P
@Minifignick
It will be good to see you there Nick. Don’t expect to see me very early on Saturday. I’ll be setting up on Friday to reduce the stress levels. I’ll have 36 cars to set up.
@JimmytheJ
The first time I displayed at an event, I was very nervous, but I relaxed pretty soon. It’s fun. Many of things you mention are actually really easily dealt with. Martin Long, who is the organiser of the show, and the people who help him always do a good job. The tables come in two different types with standard sizes and you simply request how many you want and whether they should be visible from one side or from all sides via the show website, although you can take your own if you want. The plan usually goes through a few revisions, which are discussed via the Brickish forums. The only cost involved is the cost in getting to Swindon and staying there for a few days. If you do come to the show, come and have a chat.