Few commercial vehicles are as iconic as the Volkswagen Bus. From the 1950s T1 ‘Splittie’ to the very latest T6.1 Transporters and Californias, the ‘Bulli’ is irrevocably linked with everything from hippie culture to surfing, from camping to regional post van duty.
As with any vehicle that’s spanned multiple generations, VW buses have their fans. Quite a lot of them, in fact. Enough that when Volkswagen decided to host a VW Bus Festival out of the Hannover in Germany, it found an attendance of over 6,000 buses – and 80,000 people in total over the festival’s three-day programme.
Parkers was in attendance, of course. We’d driven down on the Friday afternoon from Peterborough in a Grand California 600 – our home away from home for the weekend. En route from Calais to Hannover, the autobahns became thicker and thicker with Volkswagens – everything from rat-look modded vans barely keeping pace in lane 1 to modern machinery passing us at 95 on the outside.
Hannover’s a trek from the UK, but as it’s where VW builds the Transporter, California campers and the ID. Buzz electric van, there truly is no better place to host the festival. We arrived in the evening and parked up in one of four crammed camping areas. Ours was mainly on the hard standing in front of the festival grounds, and packed to the rafters with all manner of vans from the sublime to the ridiculous.
We were particularly taken by the variety of ‘overland’ builds – often based on T3 or T4 Syncros, or T5-on 4Motion machines. Even if they never leave tarmac, the combination of raised suspension, chunky tyres, and all manner of outward-bound gear strapped to the outside never fails to look cool.
We had more faith than we would at most car shows, though, that these vans got proper use. The vast majority of buses at the festival arrived under their own power – compare that with any provincial British show where half the garage queens turn up on trailers. They’re dusty and well-used, with families sat out under roll-out awnings barbecuing and enjoying a beer or seven with their neighbours. It’s a thoroughly convivial atmosphere.
There was no separation or cliquey behaviour, either. Modern machinery rubbed shoulders with classics, specced-out campers parked next to someone who’s just sleeping in the back of their panel van. The real joy is seeing what people do to their vans, whether that’s an insane paint job, loading on the accessories, or clever modifications such as the family who were laid out in rooftop hammocks.
In the showground proper we explored the indoor section, which was like trade show meets autojumble – stalls were selling everything from 2000 Euro roof tents and kitchen systems to badges, brake lines and body panels. Stepping outside, there’s even more to see. Food stalls (mainly out the back of Transporters) including one selling VW’s own Currywurst. A main stage hosting everything from camping cooking demonstrations to German hip-hop groups, plus a fitness class every morning hosted by VW’s surfing brand ambassadors.
On stage is also the reveal of the ‘show & shine’ winners – and here it’s not like any other. Prizes are awarded for the furthest distance travelled to the festival (New Zealand, as it happens), the best tattoo, the person closest in age to their van and the person who’s dressed to match their van.
It’s also here that we find some of VW’s more special picks from its ‘Oldtimer’ fleet. We’re taken by a pair of electric Transporters – an original T2 from the 70s, running on lead-acid batteries as part of a small factory experiment, next to an immaculately-restored T1 Samba with a much more modern conversion.
Further along, we find the half-track ‘Fox’ – one of just two built, with four axles, tracked back wheels, and violently orange paint. There’s also several of the original Westfalia California T3s, built by Westfalia themselves before VW co-opted the name for its own factory build in 2005.
Of course, there’s a full fleet of the latest California models, though conspicuously absent is the new ID.Buzz-based camper – that’s coming in 2025, we hope.
There’s another overland display here, with T3 and T4 Syncros including an amazing T4 Syncro that successfully drove from Alaska to Argentina. A little further on, there’s a trio of vans – T1, T2 and T3 – which are towing trailers made of their own back halves, colour-coded and immaculate.
Truly, there’s too much on display to see in a day – if you come to the next Bus Festival, you simply have to camp. If anything, it’s more fun going around the campsites and seeing people using these vans as they were meant to be used. We were pleased to be in the thick of it in our Grand California, appreciating the on-board ablutions but feeling a little dull parked opposite two retro-spectacular T2s.
Volkswagen’s hoping to host the Bus Festival again in five year’s time, and you can bet we’ll be there again hoping to see even more weird and wonderful Bullis.
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