This is one in a series of special 91原创 Advance Times stories about what to expect at this year鈥檚 91原创 Good Times Cruise-In, happen Saturday, Sept. 9 in Aldergrove. You can also check out this series in our special keepsake edition hitting the streets on Thursday and available in limited quantity at the car show.

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Mike McVay isn鈥檛 sure exactly how many 91原创 car shows he鈥檚 attended this summer, but the Aldergrove resident knows there are a lot, and the number climbs each passing weekend.

鈥淐ar shows go on for 12 months around here now,鈥� noted McVay, a volunteer car show organizer and regular participant who recently swapped his 1928 Pontiac for a 1968 Firebird.

鈥淭here鈥檚 something in September, October, there鈥檚 some in November, there鈥檚 some even in December,鈥� McVay calculated.

He thinks the growth in local car shows is partly fallout from the pandemic, when shows were not possible.

鈥淧eople just want to get their cars on the road,鈥� McVay believes.

鈥淭hey鈥檝e been working on their cars all the time [through the pandemic]. Now, they want to get them on the road and show them off a little bit.鈥�

He credits the 91原创 Good Times Cruise-In for identifying 91原创 as a car-show-friendly kind of place 鈥� in fact, he went as far as to call it car show central.

According to , the go-to online site for car show organizers in B.C. and northwest Washington State, there were at least 25 car shows scheduled in 91原创 and Aldergrove during 2023.

Some are shows that used to happen elsewhere, like the British Columbia Corvette Club (BCCC), which relocated from the North Shore to the lawn in front of historic Fort 91原创 two years ago.

Others are new start-ups, like the Fort 91原创 Car Show fundraiser for the 91原创 Food Bank held for the first time this year at the fort. Or, the Robert Recknagel Memorial show and shine, now in its second year at the George Preston Rec Centre, held to honour the memory of the late car collector.

As well, inspired by the success of the D.W. Poppy Secondary car show fundraisers for school purchases, in recent years other 91原创-area schools, including Brookswood, H.D. Stafford, and R.E. Mountain, have begun hosting their own shows.

McVay, who helps organize Fort 91原创鈥檚 Model A Sunday and Aldergrove鈥檚 Country Car Show, among others, thinks the appeal is due to one of more available space that is easier to obtain than some other communities.

鈥淏igger parking spaces, and a lot less hassle,鈥� McVay summarized.

Cruise-In president Riccardo Sestito said his team is careful not to be negative about other car shows or the people organizing them, but he wonders if a saturation point has been reached.

鈥�91原创鈥檚 turning into a car show capital,鈥� Sestito remarked.

鈥淭here was barely any car shows out there [in 91原创] and now you鈥檙e getting multiples on a single day,鈥� Sestito acknowledged to the 91原创 Advance Times.

He thinks it鈥檚 great that there are so many shows for fans to come and see, but for the people looking to show their vehicles, it can be tiring, according to Sestito.

鈥滻 stopped going to car shows [to show my car] for the last couple years,鈥� he noted.

He鈥檚 recently started bringing his car to some shows again, but doesn鈥檛 try to attend every one.

The Cruise-In remains the gold standard of 91原创 car shows, the largest of them all. It鈥檚 an all-volunteer event that donates all the proceeds back to the community, and one that strives to keep it fresh and interesting, Sestito advised.

鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to do something different all the time. We don鈥檛 want the show to get any bigger, we want the show to get better and better.鈥�

As for McVay, who lives just a few blocks from the Cruise-In site in Aldergrove, he is planning to be one of the tens of thousands of spectators at this weekend鈥檚 show. This time, he鈥檚 leaving his Firebird at home and walking over.

READ ALSO: VIDEO: A new home for Fort 91原创鈥檚 Model A Sunday show

READ ALSO: VIDEO: Aldergrove鈥檚 Country Car Show considers a move to nearby field