Sponsored by the Allen County Amateur Radio Technical Society Location: Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, 4000 Parnell Ave, Fort Wayne, IN Dates: November 18-19, 2017 This was my first trip to the Fort Wayne, IN Hamfest. It's a two-day fest, but I only attended on Saturday. The hamfest is all indoors, which was good because there were heavy rainstorms all day. It's all in one large area of the coliseum, with forum rooms on the second floor overlooking the hamfest activity. Several dealers were selling their wares there, and the usual tables and tables of used equipment/boat anchors, cable, connectors, LED project kits, etc. As well as a handful of people selling things completely unrelated to Amateur Radio. The sponsors gave away hourly prizes (which always places a hamfest a cut above)! There were a few areas with chairs for hams like me - who are beginning to have trouble walking any distance and need to rest often. I do wish they'd had a few more chairs, though. And, of course, the ever-present over-priced arena concessions. My girlfriend and I got two large fountain sodas and paid over $10 for them! Talking with some other hams there, I learned that the Ft. Wayne Hamfest was considerably larger in past years, and used to spill over into another building there, as well as into the basement... it seems like fests all over are becoming downsized! That's regretful. Anyway, the tickets were reasonably-priced ($6 each, plus $5 to park) and we had fun. It's definitely worth a return trip!
