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From the January 2014 Balanced Modulator newsletter.

HAMFESTS IN JACKSONVILLE

By Billy Williams, N4UF

The first one in Jacksonville was in 1931. It was organized by an ad-hoc group, the Jacksonville Amateur Radio Operators Club and designated as the ARRL Southeastern Division Convention. In those days, 100 people attending made for a big hamfest. Over four decades passed until the next Jacksonville hamfest.

Then came the Bold City Hamfest in the Jacksonville Beach Flag Pavilion in April 1974. Over 1,000 attended that Friday afternoon/Saturday/Sunday gathering which was funded and sponsored by a group that sold "shares" to raise capital. Some individuals bought shares as an investment--securities regulators would have frowned if they knew.

NOFARS was a minor shareholder. The Bold City Hamfest Assn. collapsed after the 1976 event which included a large beachfront "luau" on Saturday night.  A northeaster severely reduced income from the ill-fated luau and the association was stuck with big costs that depleted financial reserves.

In 1978, NOFARS and several other local groups formed the Greater Jacksonville Hamfest Assn. and raised advance funds to rent the Flag Pavilion.  We used "Greater" as a geographic term indicating that several groups from Jacksonville and surrounding areas combined efforts to stage the hamfest each August.

NOFARS participated in the Greater Jacksonville Hamfest Association every year thereafter until late 1999. After outgrowing the Flag Pavilion, the hamfest moved to the Orange Park Kennel Club.  In 1984, it went downtown, first to the old Civic Auditorium and then to the Osborn Convention Center.  

Attendance during peak years downtown approached 3,000. After the 1998 hamfest, it moved to the Shrine Auditorium near UNF in a scaled-back Friday afternoon/Saturday format in October. Slightly over 1,000 paid to attend in 1999.

These Greater Jacksonville Hamfests were very labor-intensive.  Dozens of NOFARS members volunteered for security, exhibitor recruitment, exam administration, local and national publicity, preparation/mailing of flyers, etc.

Planning began in October and monthly meetings of the association continued year round.  Equipment dealers and manufacturers exhibited.  Well over fifty booths and several hundred tables were sold. Exhibitors at the Greater Jacksonville Hamfest included Icom, Kenwood, Yaesu, Alinco, HRO and MFJ.

But an inevitable downward trend emerged by the late 1980s for most medium and large hamfests held in costly venues.  First came wide use of 1-800 toll-free numbers for ordering equipment and then Internet sales.  These new alternatives led to shifting of manufacturers and distributors promotional budget dollars away from hamfest attendance expenses.

This factor was offset somewhat by stimulated demand caused by introduction of no-code licenses in the early 1990s.  But by the mid 1990s, it was apparent to most that the traditional Saturday/Sunday high-overhead hamfest format was declining fast.

During this time frame, the W4IZ repeater started operation on 146.7 MHz and we needed funding sources to defray equipment acquisition, maintenance and operating costs. So, we began developing an alternative model using low overhead and free admission.  This approach greatly reduced the number of volunteers needed and also eliminated possible financial ruin if things went sour.  Income from hamfest activities and donations provided support for the W4IZ repeater.

In October 2001, the first outdoor Jacksonville hamfest was held at FCCJ North Campus.  It was also the first hamfest here with free admission and free tailgating.  The next year, it moved to Jax Raceways.

In 2003, we added a spring gathering--eventually titled Jacksonville FREE Flea.  Today, we have the two annual outdoor gatherings.  While small and short in duration compared to past indoor hamfests, they are sustainable.

In the 1980s when I was ARRL Section Manager, there were over a dozen indoor, two-day-or-more hamfests in Florida. I remember traveling to many of them representing the League. Most were well-attended, Saturday-Sunday events in places like Daytona Beach, Pensacola, Ft. Walton Beach and Zephyrhills.  Today, only three major indoor gatherings remain in Florida: Orlando in February, Melbourne in October and Tampa in December. And only Orlando is the entire weekend.

The days of successful large Saturday/Sunday indoor hamfests in Jacksonville like those from the 70s, 80s and 90s are over.