Maya Patel paid about $400 to spend four hours beside cars she says she will never own.
The 26-year-old graphic designer drove in from St. Catharines after watching clips of last year’s show online. She said the price makes it a once-in-a-lifetime purchase for her.
“I’ll never own one, and I’m OK with that,” Patel said. “It’s still cool for one afternoon I can pretend.”
Patel was one of more than 500 guests attending the sold-out Niagara 5000 Hangar Experience, a four-hour car and aviation show at Niagara District Airport on Sept. 19 that aimed to raise money for McMaster Children’s Hospital.
Founder and CEO Alana Hurov started Niagara 5000 after her daughter, Katherine, was treated at the Hamilton hospital for juvenile arthritis, diagnosed when she was two. This year the event set a $30,000 goal for McMaster, more than double the $12,500 it raised last year.
Half of each $300 driver registration in Friday’s luxury car parade, which travelled from Niagara Falls to Niagara-on-the-Lake, went to McMaster Children’s Hospital.
Niagara 5000 reached its $30,000 goal for the year before Saturday’s hangar show opened. Organizers said the final tally is still being counted.
Credit: ANDREW HAWLITZKY
Guests line up for the private jet tour at Niagara District Airport, which closed to regular traffic from 1 to 5 p.m.Sherry Bocchini, a vice-president at Hamilton Health Sciences, said 55,000 children from Niagara were treated at McMaster Children’s Hospital last year.
The airport setting gave the show something a parking lot could not. Private jets sat on the apron between the cars, and helicopters took off through the afternoon on sightseeing flights over Niagara.
Jared Kaczmarek, a 57-year-old retired Air Canada maintenance technician from Niagara Falls, spent most of his afternoon with the aircraft instead of the Lamborghinis.
“I can go to a car show any weekend in the summer,” he said. “You don’t normally get the cars and the jets in the same place.”
Inside the hangar, vendors sold watches and espresso, and the Italian Chamber of Commerce of Ontario ran a Made in Italy section built around the Italian brands parked outside.
Mélanie Villeneuve, daughter of Canadian Formula 1 driver Gilles Villeneuve, took the stage to talk about a new film on her father’s racing career.
Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Dion Dawkins also attended with teammate Ray Davis. His mineral water brand, Shnow Water 2.0, was the hangar show’s official water sponsor.
Friday’s public parade drew more than 100 registered supercars to Fallsview Casino Resort before the drivers ran a route through Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Organizers have already started planning next year’s edition of Niagara 5000.
