The Big E is a 17-day New England fair that takes place from September 15th to October 1st this year. The start is just 4 weeks away!
It attracts attendees from all over New England, northern NJ and eastern NY. The fair takes place in West Springfield, MA.
Last year the Big E had over 1.6 million attendees from all over the northeast!
In 2022, we ran a ham radio booth at the Big E and we are doing one again this year. Twelve clubs and over 100 individuals volunteered last year. We need your help again this year!
We have been provided with a free booth that normally costs $6,000. It’s located in the Better Living Center. It attracts the most visitors and it’s the largest building on the fairgrounds.
The Ham Radio Booth aims to introduce ham radio to the public and demonstrate that the hobby is still relevant in today’s world. By getting a taste of amateur radio, we hope that some members of the general public will sign up for classes and earn their license. Afterward, we hope they will join a local club where they live. This will benefit all ham radio clubs in New England!
We learned a lot from last year, and are changing the way we do things for 2023. For example, we will staff just 3 people in the booth for each six-hour session versus 4 to 6 people last year.
We encourage clubs to reserve a 6-hour session or a full 12-hour day. The booth must be staffed from 10 am through 10 pm. We ask that volunteers for the first session of each day staff the booth from 9:30 am through 4 pm; for the second session, 3:30 pm through 10 pm to provide some overlap.
Clubs may bring banner, handouts, class information and demonstrations to show and use during their time in the booth.
We are also looking for individuals to volunteer. You do not have to be part of a club.
There is an admission fee ($15) and a parking fee ($10 per car) to the fair. We have been awarded an ARDC grant and will be reimbursing those fees to everyone who participated after the fair has ended. The reimbursements will be mailed to your qrz.com address.
We need your support to make this a success!
Please go to this link to sign up:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScvo1vUzuuJTHbTtDLeApQQD1m4ZzX9kVe_hF2416e6apho3g/viewform
If you would like further information, please visit: https://nediv.arrl.org/project-big-e.
For more information, feel free to contact Larry Krainson, W1AST at: W1AST@arrl.net.