On August 28, a series of events called DriversFest '99 will take place on Long Island, New York, and they're all supposed to appeal to the current crop of people buying Volkswagen products.
The "beach bash " program at Jones Beach State Park in Wantagh, New York (which is about an hour east of Manhattan), is VW of America's first effort to build a stronger affinity with its owners and potential owners. The point is that owning a VW can provide you entrée into the kind of event you'd want to attend with the kind of people you'd like to know.
That would primarily mean people for whom "fresh" live rock bands, hands-on driving events, sporting activities, car shows and accessory/merchandise buying opportunities are of interest.
According to Bill Rodgers, who is running the event, DriversFest '99 is "DriversFest '99 will celebrate Volkswagen owners, their active lifestyles and loyalty to the brand over the last 50 years. We're pround to have such devoted owners, and this is our way of saying thank you."
Though the Detroit-based VW of America makes no effort to make it plain Canadians are welcome at the event (the toll-free phone doesn't work from here, for example), the DriversFest registration form at www.vw.com does make provision for owners from the Great White North.