Moultrie Auto Swap Meet and Car Corral returns with 4,000 exhibitors

Kasmira Smith, The Moultrie Observer, Ga.
·2 min read

Nov. 10—MOULTRIE, Ga. — If you're looking for an event that's all things cars, attend the upcoming annual Moultrie Automotive Swap Meet and Car Corral at Spence Field starting Friday, Nov. 18.

Jerry Kelly — the head event coordinator and owner of Nostalgic Automotive Ventures, Inc. dba Moultrie Automotive Swap Meet based out of Adel, Georgia — first held the event in 1975.

The show was held in Nashville to help promote Kelly's former mail order parts service, named Obsolete Chevy. For 15 years, the shows were hosted in a 100,000-square-foot tobacco warehouse until the event outgrew the building.

"The first several years, it was in a big tobacco warehouse. The vendors, the cars for sale, [and] the public parking [were] all in the building. It took a long time to get it to build up," he said.

The event moved to Spence Field in 1990, where it's been held ever since, and it continues to grow.

"This is a nice facility and it's worked really well," Kelley said.

Kelly told The Observer that approximately 4,000 vendors from across 30 states have registered for next weekend's event.

"We welcome the people to come out and experience what's here because there's a lot more than just car parts or cars here. If they come out, they would enjoy ... seeing a lot of what's here because it's unusual stuff [and] a lot of older stuff. If you walk all of our aisles, you've walked right [about] five miles," he explained.

The vendors' items range from signage items, auto-related items, memorabilia, leather goods and crafters.

"There's a lot of new vendors that've never been here before, so I'm kind of excited about that," Kelly shared.

The three-day event occurs twice a year, once in April and again in November. The fall show is the larger of the two due to the season's predictable weather and because most of the scheduled exhibitors are traveling to another show in Daytona, Fla.

The coordinators celebrated the 46th show anniversary in April this year. They continued the celebration by joining the Moultrie-Colquitt County Chamber of Commerce in August.

The show is open Friday through Sunday, Nov. 18 — Nov. 20, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The gates open Sunday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Tickets cost $10 per person for the first two days and lower to $5 on the final day. Children under 12 have free admission. They can be purchased at www.moutlrieswapmeet.com. Pets and golf carts are not permitted. Attendees must register for an event scooter on the website.

The 47th annual Moultrie Automotive Swap Meet and Car Corral is scheduled for Friday, March 31 to Saturday, April 1.