We had a call today from someone who asked whether she should come to Alumapalooza for 3, 4, or all 5 nights.  We told her that we have something happening every day, so she chose to come for all five nights and wondered, “Why don’t you just register everybody for all five nights?”

We offer three and four-night options for people who have limited time.  But if you look at the official program from 2011 (posted here), you can see that arriving on the first day makes a lot of sense.  Things start happening right away!

Today’s count: 77 campsites are reserved, out of 200 total.   Last year the event was sold out by mid-March, so if you are thinking of coming, register now!  You can cancel before March 1 with only a $25 cancellation fee, or buy “Registration Protection Plus” to cover your fees if you are forced to cancel later, so there’s very little risk.  You’ll love Alumapalooza and visiting the Airstream factory this summer!

Last year’s “Open Grill” was so popular at Alumapalooza that we’re expanding it to three nights in 2012!   Each night you’ll be invited to meet and cook with your fellow Airstreamers on our charcoal grills.  So we recently commissioned three custom 3×3 foot grills specifically for this event.

Of course, we’d be remiss if we didn’t try the new grills out before bringing them up to Ohio.  After all, it’s part of the job to make sure that everything goes perfectly at Alumapalooza.  So we laid on some salmon, chicken, asparagus, mushrooms, zucchini, and pineapple.   The Alumapalooza Advance Team is pleased to report that the grill performed excellently — and dinner was pretty good too!

So bring some grill-worthy stuff along with you next year, and have fun on three nights meeting fellow Airstreamers over our hot new grills!  They’ll be fired up each evening for two hours, and we’ll provide basic condiments and some grilling tools.

Do you have a small business that runs from an Airstream, or uses an Airstream to sell your stuff?  If so, you might be able to come to Alumapalooza absolutely free!  We’re looking for a handful of cool Airstream “pop-up” stores, artists studios, restaurants, and other similar businesses to attend in 2012, so if you have something like that get in touch with us right away via email at info (at) alumapalooza.com.  About 500 Airstreamers come to Alumapalooza and live on site for up to five days, so it’s a great opportunity to sell, promote, or just meet your customers.  We’d love to have you join us!

Note that to qualify, your Airstream must be completely dedicated to the business at hand, not a regular residential trailer that you sell stuff from.  If you need to bring a second trailer for your accommodations during the event, just let us know and we’ll do what we can to make that possible.  Limited power is available for your business, so if you have special hookup requirements, tell us about that in your email.

Alumapalooza 2012 is six months away and already 60 of the campsites are reserved!  We’ve got only 200 sites available, so whether you’ve got a business or just want to come have fun at Alumapalooza, reserve soon!

We’re hard at work on next year’s Alumapalooza.  At this point we can confirm three Airstream bands will be performing.  Antsy McClain and The Trailer Park Troubadours will be back on Saturday night!

On other nights, we’ll have short sets from “Mojave” and “Hymn For Her.” Both of these groups will be attending Alumapalooza in their Airstreams, so you’ll have a good chance to meet the band members before and after their performances.

We’re also expanding the Open Grill.  In 2012 the grill will be fired up on three nights, so you can come by and cook whatever you want while meeting other Airstreamers.  There will be more Dutch Oven cooking, and of course we’re bringing back daily yoga and the Rivet Masters competition!

We’ve also brought in a new idea: Roving Happy Hour.  In order to encourage people to make new friends, people who want to hold an open Happy Hour under their awning can put a special sign that anyone is welcome.  You can roam around the campground in the evening, before or after dinner, and just drop in wherever you like — or hold your own open Happy Hour.

There are a lot more plans in the works, so sign up for our email list (top of page) to stay in the loop, as we get the program set up for a great 2012 Alumapalooza.

And by the way, even though it is still several months until next year’s Alumapalooza, 49 of the 200 available campsites are already reserved.  If you are considering coming, don’t delay too long!