Back in the day, when kids were actually allowed to play outside in the street, nothing would stop a game of kerby dead in its tracks as effectively as the sight of an American car. To our provincial, Starsky and Hutch-devouring eyes, they were a barge-sized symbol of a world where there were 5,000 TV stations, 200 different breakfast cereals and where everything was bigger and better. So what if the bloke who owned it wasn’t Elvis, and he hardly ever took it off his drive because it was a bleeder to run and even more of a bleeder to park? The steering wheel was on the other side of the car. Skill.
Nowadays, America doesn’t seem that impossibly glamorous, and any influence it has on Airstrip One is always seen as shockingly negative – but Lawdy, Miss Clawdy, do we still love them Yank Jobs. And if you want to live out every one of your Transatlantic fantasies, from the Fonz all the way down to Snoop Dogg, Go West (of Coddington, Stragglethorpe and Barnby in the Willows), young man, to the Newark Showground, for the latest instalment of Americana International. The life’s work of Chris and Bev Jackson, it’s a five-day tribute to the sights and sounds of the US of A.
If you’re assuming that Americana is just a load of blokes looking at some old cars, think again. Not only are a lot of the motors on show ridiculously stylish monuments to an age of rampant post-war consumerism, but there’s going to be thousands of ‘em parked up at the Showground, of all ages, styles and sizes (along with motorbikes, semi-trucks, RVs, and virtually everything else on wheels). Bottom line; if you want to see an even bigger collection of American cars, you’re gonna have to go to America - and they don’t make cars anywhere near as cool as this nowadays.
And it’s far more than just a collection of things on wheels; over time, the event has ballooned into one of the biggest music festivals in Notts; we’re talking five days of live performance from acts that span nearly seven decades, including Dennis Locorriere (the voice of Dr Hook), Alvin Stardust and The Teddys (featuring members of Showaddywaddy). Not only that, but there’s also a massive 50s-style fairground, rows and rows of trade stands selling everything from vinyl to tattoos, and a huge campsite. How many family events do you know where the security is handled by Hells Angels? Exactly.
Highlights this year include the first visit to the UK of the Evel Knievel World Tour Exhibition – which includes the X-2 Sky Cycle that attempted to jump Snake River Canyon – and an appearance by the Red Dragon monster truck, which has seats in the back so you can experience what it’s like to be in a something that could fatten your own ride in mere seconds. There’s options to camp on-site or visit for the day, it gets bigger every year, it’s one of the best events in the Notts calendar and there’s nothing like it anywhere else. And if you still think that this five-day homage to America is a bit strange, bear in mind that in that country right now, hundreds of thousands of ‘em are holding medieval ‘fayres’, pulling on tights, and pretending to be us. We’ve got the better deal by far here.
Chris Jackson of Americana stops motioning for massive cars to back into a field for one moment to talk about his labour of love…
You’ve been doing this for 31 years now. What was the first Americana like?
It was in a pub car park in Bramcote. A big car park, mind; there were eighty cars there, and 200 people turned up. Then we went to Wollaton Park in 1982, and 25,000 people came out. And it’s just grown and grown and grown over the years. To go from a car park to over 400 acres is just amazing.
You’re part of the post-war generation that worshipped America and its products in the 1950s. Why’s that? They’re not exactly the most environmentally-friendly things...
Because, quite simply, there’s nothing like them. I’ve been driving for fifty years – all sorts of cars, American and British – but the American cars are not like anything else you’ll see. Obviously, because the older ones go as little as ten miles to the gallon, they don’t get taken out much these days, so when they do, they literally stop the traffic. Usually, when you say ‘classic American cars’, people automatically think of the 1950s – and they’re always going tobe popular - but it’s the 1940s that’s really catching on at the moment, especially with a younger generation.
Not only are you organising a huge car rally, but you’re also handling a massive music festival and a fairground and a campsite. What’s the biggest problems you’ve had to deal with?
Just the weather! Seriously, we’re the biggest event they have at the Showground, and we’ve never had an arrest in the 25 years we’ve been here. Never had anyone die here – touch wood – but we’ve had a couple of births. We’re the only event on the Showground allowed to run until 1am, too. We have all sorts of people here, from families to bikers to people as old as 95.
The Fish Man is always raving about Americana. Does he turn up dressed like Elvis?
No, he still has the white coat on. But he hardly ever sells anything, because he’s too busy dancing to the country bands. He loves his Country, does Dave.
Americana International, The County Showground, Newark NG24 2NY, Thursday 7- Monday 11 July. Camping from £50 per adult, £20 per camping unit. Day tickets Saturday 9 and July 10 only, £25, public gates open from 9am. Kids 15 and under free.
