The Hamfest on 6/7/25 at the Cobb County Fairgrounds was cancelled on Thursday with no specific reason given. I'm sad. I've been saving for almost a year so I could shop for a new key, maybe a beam, maybe a hat with my callsign. I live in Douglas County and 2 meters is pretty dead most of the time. No repeaters in the area. Got a couple of CB guys with towers and antennas and pushing mega power but I have no urge to talk to them. Maybe Amateur Radio is slowly dying out here in Georgia. It would be a shame if it does.
Perplexity comes up with the following.... Dave W7UUU " The Hamfest scheduled for June 7, 2025, at the Cobb County Fairgrounds (Atlanta Hamfest) was cancelled at the last minute due to "unforeseen circumstances," according to the official statement from the Atlanta Radio Club and event organizers36. The announcement described the decision as difficult and made on short notice, but did not specify the exact reason for the cancellation36. Community discussions and speculation suggest that low ticket and table sales, potentially leading to insufficient funds to cover the high rental costs of Jim R. Miller Park (the event venue), may have contributed to the decision28. One forum post specifically mentions the park's rental fee as a possible factor, estimating it at $3,000 per day for the civic rate28. However, this has not been officially confirmed by the organizers. Other comments from attendees and observers mention "unexpected developments" and personal priorities of the organizers, such as wishing to spend more time with family, but these are anecdotal and not part of any official statement4."
Thanks for the update. We were set to go and the cancellation came as a surprise. I understand the huge cost and effort that goes into putting on a show like this. I'm a member of a non radio group and they put on a couple of shows a year usually at the Cobb Civic Center. A 6 foot table is $50 for one day and you get one admission. Additional admission is $15 prior to the event and $20 at the door and they get more than enough traffic to pay the bills. I suspect that the cost of renting the Cobb Civic Center is quite a bit less than Jim Miller Park. Anyway, I'll keep an eye out for close by fest within a couple of hours drive time from Douglas County, Georgia.
You're welcome - just know that AI engines like Perplexity aren't really "intelligent" - they are simply able to scan the entire internet and find potentially-erroneous information at blindingly fast speeds that gives the ILLUSION of being "intelligent" when in fact, they find garbage just as fast as they find gold. So caveat emptor - but the explanation given seems reasonable to me. Dave W7UUU
The A-I bots probably run across that "spend more time with family" line quite a lot when there are really other reasons not stated.
Sad news. I lived in Georgia from 1993 to 2009.. I enjoyed the Atlanta Hamfest all of those years.. Hope it can come back, in some form. 73, Larry KQ4B
