It really sneaks up on you, doesn’t it? Today we are now less than 180 days away from the start of Miatas at the Gap 2022, once again at the lovely Fontana Village Resort. Some of you have your Miatas nestled away from the weather, put into hibernation for the winter, while others in warmer climates have been out enjoying Miata driving this whole time. Regardless, the warm months approach, and now that we’re under the 180 day mark, you can rest assured that the time will start to fly and before you know it, we’ll all be back at Ground Zero enjoying all that makes MATG the best, longest running, and one of the largest gathering of Miataphiles in the US.
So now is the time, if you haven’t done so already, to find lodging (most places will be booked solid by now, so get on those waiting lists!), schedule that vacation time, and start planning your trip to Deal’s Gap. We’re looking forward to seeing each and every one of you there in less than 6 months!
While we all nurse our MATG hangovers, we would like to thank everyone of our attendees, vendors, and sponsors. It wouldn’t be possible without all of you and we look forward to seeing you next year!
We’re still sifting all of the info, but it’s safe to say we broke a record or two this year thanks to y’all, and those details will be out shortly along with the links to the group photo.
Start your planning for MATG XXVI today and we’ll see you August 4-7, 2022!!!
Every year flies by, seemingly more so every year and this time was no different. It was great to see all of the new and returning friends we’ve made! We wish you all safe travels to places near and far and hope to see you all again!
We’re all sad to admit it’s the last day of MATG XXV. But we won’t shed tears yet; lets buy some raffle tickets, grab a beer and swap stories and start making plans for next year! To say we’ve been pleased to have y’all back for this year is an understatement, so please follow us on social to keep up with the latest news!
How have you been spending your first official day here in the Great Smoky mountains? Show us your favorite pictures and tell us about your first day @ MATG XXV!!!
We’d like to extend a hearty “Welcome y’all!!!” to our Silver Anniversary celebration! With more vendors than we can remember and new drives we’re very excited to have you!
Please share with us what your plans are for your time with us, it’d be great to hear from you!
As most of us begin our descent into the Great Smoky Mountains we’re just here to say….
WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE ALL OF YOU!!!! Please make sure you share as much as you can to both our main page and the Community page so we can see all of your travels.
…but have you driven a 1:64 Miata lately? No? Here’s your chance to get in on the fun in a big way!
Along with some amazing offerings from one of our vendors, we are offering three cool diecast raffle prizes of our own — eight-count Miata sets! Each of these three sets contains almost every Hot Wheels and Matchbox Miata release over the past two years. These sets include the elusive GameStop exclusive green NA, and the current Treasure Hunt NA.
All proceeds from the raffle go directly to the Graham County Rescue Squad. We extend our thanks to these volunteer first responders for the invaluable service they provide!
Raffle tickets will be available at the registration tent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Please join us in supporting GCRS, and win a set of eight diecast Miatas while doing it!
Full schedule for MATG XXV **Notice the change of date for the A&W Run**
Thursday, August 5, 2021 10:00 am – Run to Highlands Smokehouse 7:00 pm – Annual MATG Sunset Run
Friday, August 6, 2021 10:00 am – Friday Morning Spirited Run 4:00 pm – Spirited A&W Run 4:30 pm – Run to Fat Buddies BBQ 4:30pm – Drive to Iron Works Grille
Saturday, August 7, 2021 11:00 am – Annual MATG Photo 7:00 pm – MATG Raffle to benefit Graham County Rescue Squad 7:00 pm until ??? – Annual MATG Beer Swap
Registration Tent will be open Friday and Saturday from 8am until 5-ish pm and all events will be posted on site as well
With Dragon Season officially opening in less than a week, we wanted to take one more opportunity to remind you to drive within your own limits. We enjoy getting together with each and every one of you at each MATG event and want you to have a safe, enjoyable time and be able to get home in your own Miata. With that said, a few guidelines to keep us all safe and make it home in one piece:
DO NOT CROSS THE DOUBLE YELLOW LINE
At all times, do not drive like an idiot.
Do not drive outside your own abilities, especially if you’re in a run and trying to keep up with the leader or the car ahead of you.
Don’t speed, these are public roads.
At night and in low-visibility conditions, be very careful. Large wildlife can jump out of the woods in any curve, and people HAVE hit things like boar, bear, and deer. Hitting a 400 pound wild boar can ruin your weekend.
Slow in the Village. Even though we have packed Fontana, there will be a lot of your fellow Miataphiles and their families here and occasionally small children running around, so be very careful and don’t drive fast in the Village. Additionally, because of where the vendor area there will be a lot of pedestrian traffic around the Wildwood Grill lot and the road in front of the Grill, so please be observant and drive slowly in these areas. Take your time and enjoy the scenery.
Pull Over!! If you have vehicles stacking up behind you, pull over in a safe area and let them pass. The Dragon has many paved pull-offs explicitly for this. Use them.
Beware of very large trucks. Though they’re illegal on the Dragon, they do still find their way up there from time to time, and they are still legal on all the other area roads. They take up a LOT of space, especially when trying to navigate the tight corners that the Miatas eat for lunch.
Also, as you have heard in our previous posts and comments, this year we’ve moved the vendor area in front of the Wildwood Grill. The entire parking area in front of the grill will be closed to traffic. Additionally, the parking area on the road on front of the grill will also be filled with vendor tents. Because of this, we want to repeat this one:
Do not park on the sides of the roads. Fontana has asked that you only park in parking areas to avoid blocking any driveways and entrances and to avoid creating traffic hazards in the village roads themselves. Fontana vehicles need to be able to move freely about. If we cannot keep these areas open and freely moving, we won’t be able to keep the vendors in front of the Grill in the future.
Everyone please drive safely and have a great time this weekend at Miatas At The Gap
