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CigarFest ’05 - A Roll in the Catnip |
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A sellout crowd gathered at the Pennsylvania Expo Center for a day of cigars and comraderie. A roll in the catnip it was. The event sold out 3 weeks after we posted tickets - and well over a month before the event. CigarFest Saturday came and 1,500 herfers descended on Allentown, PA from parts unknown including California, Texas, Nebraska, Illinois, Florida, Alabama, Michigan, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, West Virginia - just to name a few from among those I talked to. Men and many women too, ranging from age 21 to at least 84. Before the event, 2 lines curled around both sides of the 100,000 sq.ft. Expo Center - some had been tailgating for hours beforehand!
This event is the real deal - not some overly glitzy affair with a bunch of comp corporate tickets and people who couldn't give a damn about cigars. Hell, this is Allentown, PA - I happen to love it around here, but the cigar nuts making this trip were true enthusiasts! And the ticket price remains a steal in my humble opinion, as 75 bucks got you 35 cigars, 4 hours of live entertainment, a pig roast dinner, 8 different microbrew samples and 4 top brands of liquor, plus other goodies. Many of the top cigar makers and owners were there, including Ernesto Perez-Carillo, Nick Perdomo, Jon Drew, Rocky Patel, Kaizad Hansotia, Aylin Ozgener, Nestor Plasencia, Felipe Gregorio, Christian Eiroa and many more. These kind of people are the heart and soul of our little industry and their passion for handmade cigars is evident. You just don't get that in too many other industries and that's part of what makes premium cigars so special. Best of all, the comraderie among all the attendees was astounding, and it was once again so gratifying and fun to be among a group of people so gentlemanly, knowledgeable and fun-loving. So it's another year in the bag, and of course a coupla lessons learned. Going from 400 people to 1,500 people was easier on paper than in reality. After all, we're in the cigar biz, not event planning. The biggie was some of the lines. The bottlenecks centered around the positioning of the Playboy Playmate, the photo-op booths, and those makers giving out additional cigars when you bring back the nub. So while we'll probably keep the attendance at or below 1,500 next time around, you can count on some tweaks to the floor plan. Onward and upward. - Keith |
