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Central Ohio Car Shows & Motorcycle Events | September 28 – October 4, 2026

Published on Leave a comment on Central Ohio Car Shows & Motorcycle Events | September 28 – October 4, 2026
1965 Ford Mustang - Owner: Bart Drumm

As we head into the first weekend of October, the schedule starts to thin out as many of the weekly and monthly cruise-ins and bike nights wrap up for the season. However, there are still plenty of events to choose from on Saturday and Sunday.

The Der Dutchman Cruise-In concludes its season with its annual banquet on Thursday, while Boots and the Auto Smarts Radio Cruise and Ride Tour call it a year Sunday at Moose Lodge 1427.

There’s one more full Saturday of events coming up on October 10 before the schedule drops off considerably as the leaves change and the weather starts to cool.

Monday (September 28th):

Tuesday (September 29th):

Wednesday (September 30th):

Thursday (October 1st):

Friday (October 2nd):

Saturday (October 3rd):

Sunday (October 4th):

Be sure to check out the Save the Dates for 2026 page for the most comprehensive, best-organized list of upcoming Central Ohio car shows, cruise-ins, meet-ups, and bike events you’ll find anywhere online.

Don’t miss a single event — bookmark it and stay in the loop all season long.

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NEWS AND NOTES

Der Dutchman Cruise-In:

Soggy fields, tall grass, and no food sales couldn’t discourage 317 vehicles from attending the final Der Dutchman Cruise-In of the season Thursday evening.

The day started out a little “iffy,” but by early afternoon, something no one had seen for four days appeared in the sky. I think it’s called the sun.

It’s been a roller coaster year for the cruise-in weather-wise. We started in May with temperatures in the 50s, fought through multiple weeks of 90-plus-degree temperatures, and had two weeks canceled because the fields were too wet for cars, with several more that could have easily been canceled because of all the rain this summer.

Despite all that, Thursday evenings were still something to look forward to—hanging out with friends and checking out all the beautiful and unique vehicles on display.

Here’s a look at some of the rides that made it out to the final cruise-in of 2026.

Dan the Man Car Show:

Saturday saw the 3rd Annual Dan the Man Car Show, held in memory of Daniel Chapman, who passed away in 2023. Dan enjoyed racing Mustangs, riding his motorcycle, and attending car shows.

The show took place in Alexandria and registered 105 vehicles. The $20 registration fee was collected as participants drove into the show and included two raffle tickets. One ticket served as proof that the registration fee had been paid. The second, along with five additional tickets given at registration, gave each participant six chances to win a 65-inch Vizio flat-screen TV.

Additional tickets could be purchased for a silent auction and 50/50 drawing. All proceeds from the show benefit First Descents, which offers free programs to young adults impacted by cancer and other serious health conditions.

Live musical entertainment was provided by the Jesse Blankenship Band. Several food trucks were on hand to satisfy anyone’s hunger or thirst, while a bounce house gave the kids a place to blow off some energy.

There were 39 awards given out at the end of the show. These included awards for the Top 25 with the remaining 14 being custom made by Bill Kelly.

Here are the Specialty selections:

  • KID'S CHOICE: 1968 Pontiac CTO - Craig Gallagher
  • JOLLY PIRATE DONUTS' CHOICE: 1970 Dodge Challenger 6 Pack - Bob Meldahl
  • BEST EXOTIC: 2023 Jaguar F Type - Russell Fish
  • BEST CLASSIC TRUCK: 1950 Chevy 3100 - Richard Dunbar
  • BEST OFF-ROAD BUGGY: 2019 Polaris XP 1000 Turbo - Steve Miller
  • BEST TOY: 2022 Polaris R2R Turbo - Matt Miller
  • TOP TRUCK: 1983 Chevy K-10 - Jim Budd
  • TOP CAR: 1968 Chevy Corvette - Jim Bickel
  • MOST UNIQUE: 1939 Dodge Repo-Wrecker - Doug Dever
  • BEST MOTORCYCLE: 2026 Harley-Davidson Street Glide - Rick Wilson
  • BEST RAT ROD: 1954 Chevy Rat Rod Wrecker - James Crites

Best of Show honors went to Steve Kidwell and Nancy with their 1965 Pontiac GTO.

The most important award of the show was Daniel's Pick which Mike Smith's 1966 Pontiac Catalina received.

It turned out to be a beautiful day for a car show, and there were certainly a lot of high-quality rides on display. However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention two of the more unique vehicles in attendance.

The first was a 1998 Subaru Sambar Volkswagen Mini Van conversion. At first, I thought the windshield placard was a mistake, but the rear of the vehicle does indeed have a Subaru emblem.

The second was a Hummer kit car pulling a speed boat. Definitely not something you’d see at most car shows.

Both of these are examples of what makes attending shows in some of the smaller communities around Central Ohio so great. You just never know what you’re going to see.

Urban Pineapple Car, Truck, & Bike Show:

The 5th Annual Urban Pineapple Car, Truck & Bike Show took place Saturday in downtown Mt. Sterling. This year’s show registered 93 vehicles.

Some of this year’s winners included David Elliott’s 1957 Chevy Bel Air and Phil Spangler’s 1956 Ford Thunderbird, which both took home Top 20 awards. Bryan Mauger’s 1970 Monte Carlo was selected Best Chevy.

Left to Right: David Elliott, Bryan Mauger, Phil Spangler

The Fred Jacob Memorial Award went to Robert Dillard’s 1932 Ford.

A 1969 Mercury Cougar received Best Ford, while Best Mopar went to a Jeep Willys. People’s Choice was awarded to a 1966 Chevy Nova, and Best of Show went to a 1932 Ford.

Doug Glassburn was gracious enough to take and share these photos from the show:

Laurelville Fire Dept Car Show:

Hi-Way Starz Car Club member Bubba Hettinger took a little road trip to Laurelville on Saturday for the 8th Annual Laurelville Fire Department Car Show and Fish Fry. The event registered 99 vehicles.

The 114-mile round trip turned out to be worthwhile, as Bubba took home a Top 35 award with his 1978 Chevy K-10 Stepside pickup.

Here’s a video slideshow from the photos Bubba took at the show:

Bremen Oktoberfest Car Show:

Our newest CarShowTalk contributors, Wayne and Michelle Nelson, traveled to Bremen on Saturday for the 1st Annual Bremen Oktoberfest Car Show in historic downtown Bremen.

Beautiful weather greeted the 49 vehicles registered for the inaugural event. Awards were presented to the Top 15 along with specialty awards for Best Interior, Best Truck, Best Motorcycle, People’s Choice, and Best in Show.

Among the Top 15 winners were Michelle Nelson with her 1963 Corvette Sting Ray, Curt Ruff with a Chevy Apache pickup, Scott Thomas with a 1973 Ford F-250 Highboy, and Mel Thomas with a 1963 Corvette Split-Window.

Organizers were pleased enough with the turnout that they’ve already announced plans to bring the car show back as part of next year’s Oktoberfest.

Thanks to Wayne and Michelle for making the trip to Bremen and providing the photos and show information for this week’s report.

Here are some of the vehicles that filled the streets of downtown Bremen:

CAVMG Vintage Motorcycle Show:

The Columbus Area Vintage Motorcycle Group held its first semi-annual vintage motorcycle show on Sunday at Coastline Coffee Co. in Dublin.

The show was open to motorcycles 25 years and older.

Sixteen motorcycles qualified for awards, but more than 40 bikes turned out during the two-hour show.

Registration was $10 and automatically entered participants into the door prize raffle. All registration fees will be donated to Rico Pet Recovery.

Seven awards were presented: Coolest Gauge Cluster, Oldest Motorcycle, Dirtiest Bike, Best Sound, Third Place, Second Place, and Best in Show. Second Place, Third Place, and Best in Show were chosen by votes from the show participants.

Here are the award-winning motorcycles:

  • OLDEST MOTORCYCLE: 1957 Velocette Venum - Fred Hahn
  • COOLEST GAUGE CLUSTER: 1982 Honda V45 Sabre - Rob Numbers
  • DIRTIEST BIKE: 1967 Triumph Mountain Cub - Ethan Putsch
  • BEST SOUND: 1997 Harley-Davidson Sportster - Adam Romanski

The Third Place Award went to Aaron Gates with a 1998 Harley-Davidson FLSTF.

Ethan Putsch's 1967 Triumph Mountain Cub received the Second Place Award.

DIRTIEST BIKE: 1967 Triumph Mountain Cub - Ethan Putsch

The 1996 Moto Guzzi Sport 1100 belonging to Daniel Noonen took home the Best in Show honors.

I have to say, it was fun covering something totally out of my element. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll be as familiar with motorcycles as I am with cars.

Sons of Italy Car and Truck/Motorcyle Show:

Originally scheduled for July 19, the Sons of Italy Car, Truck & Motorcycle Show in Newark was postponed because of weather and rescheduled for Sunday.

Jeff Tolley and several other Hi-Way Starz Car Club members attended the show. Jeff estimated around 50 vehicles were in attendance.

Ten awards were presented, with no specialty awards or Best of Show.

Here are some of the vehicles Jeff captured at the show:

Other Area Car Shows:

Every now and again, an event listing gets missed on CarShowTalk. It doesn’t happen very often, but it does happen. The Waldo Breakfast Cruise-In was one that slipped through the cracks this week.

In all fairness, the cruise-in organizer admitted he had been too busy to get the word out about the event as much as he would have liked. Fortunately, Mark and Mary Lester knew about the cruise-in, made the trip to Waldo, and came home with a Top 20 award.

CarShowTalk’s Number One photographer, Jeff Shankle, was in Indiana this weekend taking in the sights, sounds, and cars at the James Dean Rebel Run and Ducktail Run. If you have a Facebook account and want to see what you missed, check out the hundreds of photos Jeff took during the weekend using this link.

That's it for this week. We finally had a weekend with no rain. The last time that happened was July 25 and 26. Add in temperatures in the low 70s instead of the mid-90s, and you had a great weekend to get out and attend at least one car show.

This weekend also saw CarShowTalk’s first-ever coverage of a motorcycle show, which turned out to be a fun experience. It was definitely a little outside my comfort zone, but I enjoyed seeing and learning about motorcycles I don’t normally encounter at most car shows.

With September coming to a close, it means ghouls, goblins, witches, plenty of candy, and lots of trunks and treats as Halloween takes over the Central Ohio car show scene.

I want to give a big shoutout to this week’s remote reporters: first-timers Wayne and Michelle Nelson, along with Jeff Shankle, Bryan Mauger, Doug Glassburn, Bubba Hettinger, Jeff Tolley, and Mark and Mary Lester. A big thank you to all of you for contributing photos, videos, and information from the events you attended. Your contributions allow CarShowTalk to cover far more events each weekend than I could ever get to on my own.

Have a great week, stay safe and keep those wheels rolling.

Home » Central Ohio Car Shows & Motorcycle Events | September 28 – October 4, 2026

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