Heavy rainfall in recent weeks has forced organizers to cancel the final Caffeine & Carburetors car show of 2023.
Scheduled for Sunday at Waveny Park, the antique and specialty auto show will not be held and the series will return next year, C&C founder Doug Zumbach said.
“I thought about it over this past weekend, and there was really no reason to delay the decision,” Zumbach told NewCanaanite.com on Wednesday from inside his eponymous coffee shop at Pine and Grove Streets, where Caffeine & Carburetors began.
Zumbach said he’s been visiting Waveny every other day to track conditions, and he grew especially concerned about the forecourt at the main house.
“We’re just one of many events that have been canceled due to this rain that we have every weekend,” he said. “It’s saturated. Hard decision to make, but the right one.”
New Canaan did see two C&C events this year, both downtown, in May and September. In recent years, Zumbach has gone in February before the Parks & Recreation Commission seeking the appointed body’s support to hold the Waveny show in the fall.
Parks & Recreation Director John Howe called Zumbach’s decision to cancel C&C “the right choice.”
“We have sections of Waveny that haven’t been mown for a few weeks due to the soggy ground conditions,” Howe said. “In my 25 seasons I have never seen a fall with such wet conditions.”
Zumbach said he’s already sent out communications to regular attendees of Caffeine & Carburetors.
“I thank them for their enthusiasm, participation and passion,” he said.