I’ve been going to Red Deer (Alberta, Canada) Cruise Nights in its various forms and venues for over 17 years.
I’ve watched it evolve from a small parking lot show with about 50-60 cars to a major weekly event with several hundred cars in a much larger lot.
Red Deer Cruise Night is a successful event because it’s well organized and it has a defined season, so this past Thursday was its last official night.
Jerry Sutherland
Dave Burden is the head guy at RDCN, and he explained how the show will go on past September–if the weather holds up, they hope to host a Halloween show on Thursday October 31, 2024.
That’s a roll of the dice, but over the years I have seen a few Red Deer Cruise Night Halloween shows. The sun goes down around six pm at that time of year but if it does come off–it’s an interesting night.
There was a great mix of vehicles at the Red Deer Cruise Night on Thursday, because this is an all-makes and years show every week. For example, classic British iron is not unusual at this event and that was the case this week.
They also had some vintage military vehicles at this week’s show—they make regular appearances at RDCN.
That’s all part of the mix at the show.
Red Deer has a large population of car guys, so the Cruise Night has a strong base of supporters. This event is also a big draw for a younger crowd so it’s also a starting point for new car guys.
They don’t bring typical iron to the show. For example, Jim found a story about an ’87 Volvo wagon with a monster 800-horse Volvo 2.4 four-banger under the hood.
That’s the ultimate sleeper and the young guy who built it did it with scavenged parts and a lot of talent—on old school vision from a new-school car guy.
There were many other examples of traditional stuff like street rods, classic pickups and muscle cars at Thursday’s show.
Jim found an interesting resto-mod, big block 1973 Road Runner that looked like it was light years away from stock.
He’s going to track down the owner because that ‘73 beeper attracted people like free tickets to an all-you-can drink pub night.
There’s a big community spirit to Red Deer Cruise Night because of its long history in the area. There are owners who came to the show years ago when they were kids and picked up the vibe so much, they’re bringing cars or trucks to the event in 2024.
That’s the key to success. Red Deer Cruise Night has been doing this show—in one form or another since the 1990s and they locked in on Thursday night years ago. They’ve also been consistent in their presentation, despite the changes in venues over the years.
This week showed how hard work, and consistency can turn a small weekly car show into a major community event.
I’m looking forward to Halloween 2024.
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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