Virginia Festival of the Wheel raises big funds for UVA Cancer Center

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) -The Virginia Festival of the wheel drove into town this weekend for a good cause.

Boar’s Head Resort was filled with over a hundred unique automobiles on Sunday, but event organizers say the festival was about more than just cars.

“This year we’ve really gone out to make sure that we’re doing things right for the Cancer Center,” event organizer Irv Cox said. “And as you see with all the people here today, we’re having a great turnout, and we hope this is a record-breaking event for us.”

All proceeds from the festival go toward the UVA Cancer Center. Event organizers anticipate they will raise around $50,000-60,000. Some of that includes contributions from drivers, many of whom did not have to drive far for the special weekend.

“We’re fortunate to have some folks in Charlottesville that have got some outstanding cars,” Cox said. “And the good news is, they’re willing to share it with the community.”

The cars are not the average ones you’d see driving down the street. Drivers had to go through a selective application process to have their car shown. Attendees of the event voted on their favorite vehicles, and awards were given at the end of the day.

“I did a little research and found not a lot of them were made at the time,” event participant Don Davis said. “The paint you see is original, it was done in the ‘70s. More people like it than I would expect. Sometimes when you customize a car it doesn’t sit right with a lot of people, but it’s gotten a very good response.”

Even though the lots are full of expensive and rare automobiles, organizers of the event say there’s a different star of the show. Organizers say the cars got them to the festival, but it was the people that kept them there.

“I don’t know how you would do this in some other community than Charlottesville,” Cox said. “It’s just a phenomenal place to live and people have just come forward and they’ve helped us in every step of the way.”

The festival of the wheel will happen again next year, at this same time so mark your calendars in case you missed it today.

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