Volkswagen Group fans have been gathering around Lake Worthersee in Austria since 1982 to show their beloved machines and share tuning ideas. However, the local community at Maria Worth recently decided that it no longer wants to host the annual event in the future, which left the meeting with no options for 2023. Thankfully, Volkswagen steps in to save the day with the announcement it will host the gathering in Wolfsburg starting next year.
For 2024, the German automaker is planning the so-called GTI Coming Home event, which will welcome enthusiasts of sporty, performance, and exotic Volkswagen models near the VW plant in Wolfsburg. Of course, the show won’t be limited only to VW cars as in the past we’ve seen there are hundreds of cars from other VAG brands at the GTI Meeting.
Gallery: VW GTI Meeting
“Our GTI fans are of great importance to Volkswagen and that's why the exchange with them is very dear to us," Imelda Labbé, marketing exec at Volkswagen. "For this reason, after the GTI Meeting at Lake Wörthersee was unfortunately canceled, we decided pretty quickly to offer the GTI fan community in Wolfsburg a new home for the event.”
In addition to hosting the event in the future, Volkswagen also wants to evolve it with ideas coming directly from the fans. There’s still a lot of time until next year in which the manufacturer will communicate those new ideas with its fans and try to implement them in the best possible way. For 2024, VW promises vehicle presentations, stage shows, and club meets, as well as “many other interesting events and surprises.”
As far as the previous location in Austria is concerned, the local community was not happy with the unofficial gatherings of enthusiasts through the years, which frequently caused trouble and required police intervention. Also, Mayor Markus Perdacher said in an official statement that the city wants to create “attractive and sustainable living spaces” that apparently don’t align with the concept of the enthusiasts' meeting.
