VANTOPIA 2024: A decade of vans, bands and beers

You’ve probably heard of a motorcycle club, or maybe even a scooter club, but how about a van club? This club boosts fully-kitted custom vans with shag carpets, beds and sometimes a killer sound system. The old van conversion trend your uncle might have built with his buddies in his garage in the ‘70s hasn’t gone anywhere. Instead, it’s still sought after by enthusiasts to rebuild those vans to their former glory, or even better.

In Calgary, you can find a select few with a passion for boogie vans. Some of them belong to the Vandits VC, a van club formed in 2012 between good friends that share the same love for custom vans.

The club doesn’t have many stipulations for prospective members, as long as your van is a rear wheel drive and isn’t a Westfalia, you might make the cut. But all members of the club are good friends, and the club remains as invite only — that’s how it’s been from the start.

“It had very little to do with what kind of van you had, or what year it was, or what vintage it was, it was more about just being a cool guy to be able to be a part of the club,” club co-founder and president Corey Martens says.

The Vandits VC serves as a group to appreciate vanning, but more importantly, a sanctuary to have a good time.

“I know that there’s motorcycle clubs that have very strict rules when your rig has to be on the road, or you’ll get demoted, and we’re not that kind of club,” Martens says. “It’s more of a hug and handshake club.”

Being that the club cherishes classic retro vans, they’re no strangers to mechanical issues.

“If you go in a convey, you’re going to expect that somebody’s going to break down somewhere,” vice-president Brad Beckner says. “It’s not if, it’s when.”

Luckily the club has some handy mechanic members to deal with these issues on the road.

The Vandits put on a big annual event, Vantopia, which is celebrating its 10th official anniversary party kicking off on May 31 in Equity, Alta. You can expect live music from bands like Young Widows, Riot City, Flashback and Brain Bent along with a lot of beer, and a pancake breakfast sendoff on the last morning of the event.

This isn’t a music festival though, it’s a party for van lovers, and that’s exactly how the club plans to keep it.

“We’ve had a lot of people show up that didn’t have vans, and the best thing to hear is them showing up the next year with a van because they had such a great time,” says Beckner.

The club puts together fundraisers to raise money for the big event, including Vanuary, a pre-party in January that gives a preview of what to expect from Vantopia.

Vantopia 10 kicks off Friday, May 31 and goes straight, day and night, until Sunday, June 2 — and it’s going to get noisy.

“Vantopia is like party jail, there’s nowhere to really escape it,” Martens says, laughing. “It’s loud, it’s all night, and it’s all weekend.”