Subiefest Midwest 2019

The last few weeks have been unbearably hot and filled to the brim with rain. That means it must be late summer and time for another Subiefest! After last year's inaugural Midwest event, I couldn't wait to head back down to Joliet, IL!

With yet more rain in the forecast, the trip down was ominous and filled with dark skies. Thankfully my wife and I had an uneventful drive and arrived at the gates in no time! The parking area was, predictably, a sea of WRXs, STIs, Foresters, Outbacks, etc. I grabbed a few shots of my favorite Outback - driven by the one and only @soobwisconsibly.

Once we made it through registration, we grabbed our goodie bags featuring this year's awesome t-shirt design and checked out the new photo booth featuring a sweet Subiefest backdrop.

Subaru had once again wrapped a WRX and was letting people sign it, with each signature contributing a donation to charity! We left our mark just above the driver's side headlight and on the driver's fender (with a shameless plug for our insane cat's Instagram).

There was also a number of new 2020 Subarus on display, including the newly redesigned Outback, Legacy, and an S209 Edition STI. While the pictures I'd seen of the Outback online didn't convince me, I have to say the car itself is much sharper and refined looking in person!

As we moved further into the show, my wife made a beeline for the humane society's booth and the ridiculously adorable puppies they had up for adoption. She was very excited, to say the least...

The Subaru Rally Team area featured the car itself as well as a booth for fans to grab signatures and a picture with rally legend Patrik Sandell!

There were vendors aplenty this year, including Option Lab Wheels crazy booth featuring some of their awesome wheels plus a puppy of their own!

We spent the rest of our time wandering around, grabbing some pictures of the awesome cars on display and catching up with friends!

A few of my favorites included smurfed_sti:

walkersmithology featured in front of the Verus Engineering booth:

sr20deep1's clean Forester on Volk TE37s:

And toybaru with another amazing STI (OK maybe I have a thing for red Subarus now...)

Along the way, there were a few more dogs that of course HAD to be loved...

Finally, just as Patrik Sandell was heading out onto the autocross track for ride-alongs, the downpour started. Fortunately I was able to grab a few shots before getting completely soaked!

Overall, Subiefest Midwest 2019 was a huge success and featured even more awesome cars than last year. The people, puppies, and vendors were all friendly and it was great see old friends and make a few new ones! See you next year, Subiefest!