Vespa Scooter Events
This Thursday, the traditional “four days” of the Vespa World Days, the show dedicated to the most famous scooter in the world will be launched. The stage for 2011 is the town of Gjovik, north of Oslo, which will host Vespa enthusiasts from all over the world from the 19th to the 22nd of May.
With registration still open, thousands of Vespa riders have already registered from 20 countries, representing more than 120 Vespa Clubs.
Sixty five years of success, more than 17 million units sold from 1946 to today, from 2006 more than 100,000 units sold every day consistently all over the world (Vespa sales in 2010 were 133,000, to be precise) and above all, the capacity to attract fun and friends from all over the globe.
This is Vespa’s strong point, the legendary scooter around which the first associations and clubs were founded already in 1946, the year that the first “98cc” made its début.
From Fatima in Portugal, the forum for the 2010 Vespa World Days edition, to Gjøvik in Norway, tons of Vespa enthusiasts have put the new, Vespa style international rally on their calendar: a renewed meeting in confirmation of the passion for the scooter icon of Italian design and style.
At Gjøvik, as was the case for past editions at Cefalù in 2008, at Zell am See – Austria – in 2009, and last year in Portugal, the programme is filled with events, excursions and special initiatives.
From Thursday, 19 May, the festivities begin with a warm “welcome” to all of the fans in the Vespa Village, the area entirely dedicated to all of the main activities. Then, in the afternoon of Friday, 20 May, an excursion is scheduled for Lillehammer, the charming town which overlooks lake Mjøsa and is famous for its village of brightly coloured and perfectly preserved wood houses.
Open air markets and bars are scheduled for every evening, in addition to live shows and musical entertainment.
The most magical moments, on the other hand, are scheduled for Saturday, 21 May: in the morning thousands of enthusiasts with their many coloured Vespas of all different models will parade for 30 km to Kapp; an acrobatic show with the Vespas will delight the crowd in the evening after the long awaited banquet for all registered participants.
And so, just more than a month after the 65th birthday of the scooter which has defined the history of mobility – more than 17 million units manufactured as of today – Vespa celebrates its success again.
It was the beginning of April this year when, in Rome, a “three day festival” dedicated to the Vespa was held. The début of three new special series and the return of the evergreen “Vespone” PX, the large event at Rome’s Square Colosseum with 5000 guests and the big parade which crossed the Capital with the colours of the Italian flag. Memorable events in the month of the Vespa icon anniversary when, in April 1946, the patent was filed in Florence marking the launch of mass production for the first Vespa 98cc.
The Vespa legend and the passion for the timeless scooter have been around practically since the birth of the Vespa itself, so much that as early as 1946, numerous owners had already decided to come together to form the first Vespa Clubs in Italy, which were soon followed by others abroad. Today, there are 40 National Vespa Clubs associated with the Vespa World Club and 700 registered local Vespa Clubs, for a total of over 40,000 members worldwide. In any case, it is impossible to guess exactly how many Vespa restorers, collectors and fans there are throughout the world, who meet and exchange information and opinions on the net.
After the great success last year, the Vespa Trophy is confirmed again for the 2011 edition of Vespa World Days: The initiative, which began in the first edition (2010) in Fatima, will aspire once again this year to involve the European dealers in the legendary Vespa Club world. Vespa Trophy is a competition for the Vespa travellers, strictly for those who are members of Vespa Clubs, who will document with photos and special stamps in their Travel Book, as many stops as possible in the various European dealers.
It is a touring trophy organised in honour of the Vespa which involves more than 2,000 Piaggio dealers all over Europe. Any member of any Vespa Club can participate: each Vespa Club must try to reach Gjøvik by May 19, visiting the most Piaggio Check Points en route with the largest number of Vespas possible.
The website dedicated to the second edition of the trophy, vespatrophy.com, is already online with all of the information on participation, where the Travel Book can also be downloaded, indispensable for each Vespa rider who registers the identification data of their Vespa Club and documents the points accumulated during the stops and Piaggio Check Points.
The appointment for all Vespa riders is at the Piaggio Check Points along European roads to accumulate points for the 2011 Vespa Trophy and then at Gjøvik from 19 May for the Vespa World Days.
The program and further information are available at the Vespa World Days official website vespaworlddays.com and the official Vespa World Club website vespaworldclub.com.