Classic Volks Northern UK Cruise to Ninove (FreddyFiles) 2025
March saw the annual trip to Ninove in Belgium for FreddyFiles. If you haven't been, FreddyFiles is a one day event in the town of Ninove in Belgium. The local residents remove their vehicles from the streets of the town on the Saturday night and on the Sunday, these same roads are lined with every kind of aircooled VW you could imagine.
We headed over on the Hull to Rotterdam ferry on the Thursday night, this gave us a bit of extra time. Since the Zeebrugge ferry stopped, we've been unable to catch up with the southern UK cruise as they come into the town so I thought it would be nice to go a day early and add a cruise out of town to meet them. This also meant we had Friday free to find something to do.
We set off from York on the Thursday afternoon, meeting up en route to cruise over, grabbing fish & chips as a group before heading on our way. We then checked in with P&O and boarded the ferry, having met a few more along the way and while waiting at the port.
One of my York Classic VWs club members, Shane, had the idea to go along to the Louwman museum, about half an hour from the ferry port. He, his wife (Jane) and I had been a couple of years ago and just knew people would love it. So on docking in Rotterdam, we all met up to cruise together to the museum. We all absolutely loved it. The Louwman museum is a car museum that takes you through the different eras of cars, right from coach and horses up to F1 cars. An absolute must if you love cars and are in the area. It also has a great café - set in what feels like an old street.
From the museum, we headed straight for Ninove to get checked in for the night, some in Airbnbs, some in hotels and some camping in their buses, which I've done previously but much prefer the warmth of a hotel when it's under 0 degrees at night! We stayed in the De Croone in the middle of the town, one I've stayed at on a number of occasions when going to this event. We all got settled in and then headed out for a bite to eat and a couple of Belgian beers before getting an early-ish night.
We got up nice and early on Saturday morning, grabbed breakfast in the hotel and then jumped in our aircooleds to drive out to Jabbeke services to meet the southern cruise aka the UK Cruise to Ninove as they arrived. As we got closer to Jabbeke we started to see aircooleds rolling in, I may have got a little excited at this point! Once all had arrived and refreshed with a cuppa, it was time to get back on the motorway and drive back to Ninove. I can't explain how nice it is to be part of a cruise of 80+ aircooled VWs - it really is something special and I never, ever tire of it!
We all arrived back in Ninove and after a bit of a palaver trying to find a place to park, we all headed into Witkap Brewery which by the time we arrived was already jammed full of aircooleds and people from all over Europe! The met up at the brewery started many years ago as a welcome for all the UK people coming along to the event but has almost become a show in its own right and gave a good taste of what was to come on Sunday. A few beers for the non-drivers in the cruise and then we headed back to the hotel to get ready for a night out in Ninove. The town of Ninove has plenty of good restaurants and bars and is a fab night out.
Sunday morning we were up early to get our VWs out and back in through the entrance and get parked up for the main event.
Freddyfiles is a one day event for aircooled VWs, every street in the town is lined with aircooled VWs, traders and food stands. The quality of the vehicles really is something you have to see. From 8am to about lunchtime VW after VW arrives in this lovely little town. People come from the UK, Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands and even further afield! I think the photos are the best way to really describe it. We spent the day wandering around, checking out the cars, chatting to many different people, catching up with European and British friends that we hadn't seen for a few months. I tried really hard to pick my favourite but the standard of vehicle was just so good that it was impossible to pick just one so I'll let you decide from the photos, most of these, you'll find over on our Facebook Page or our Instagram From stock to slammed and shiny to patina, standard engines and big engines, all the aircooled models were represented.
On the Monday morning, I had arranged for those coming back on the Rotterdam ferry to have a trip to BBT in Belgium for a tour of the shop, warehouse and Bob's private collection. Having visited a few times before, I thought it would be a great place to stop off on the way home. The guys at BBT are always so warm and welcoming which makes it even better! I think everyone was amazed at the size of the place and of the number and quality, in particular the originality, of Bob's vehicles. I would definitely recommend a visit if you're over in Belgium, plus, you can pick up some quality parts for your VW while there, which we stock here in York in England.
I go to this one pretty much every year and have been doing so since 2013 and all I can say is, if you haven't been, get your self there! If you live in the north of England and want to join us on our cruise over, head to our Facebook group Classic Volks Northern UK Cruise to Ninove (FreddyFiles) | Facebook, be sure to answer the questions or I'll probably decline as I want to keep it a safe place to discuss our plans.
