Yes, the company donates this service each year for this fundraising booth. So they totally prep the car, haul it out there, and then pick it back up.

The booth has been done for years and is handed down to the Junior class parents. The head of the festival actually arranges for the truck.

There are also lots of possible variations, including charging more for "choice spots" like breaking the windows. In our case all glass is removed from the car before delivery. If you've seen auto glass break, it's designed to sort of crack and web. It doesn't splinter. So I'm guessing this isn't so much a safety requirement as it it was more a concern about debris that would be left behind on the park grounds.

In researching on the web afterward just "because" I found lots of other groups and various practices they use, including liability forms, age requirements, closed-toe shoes, etc. (We didn't have those, although there was smaller hammer for kids and everyone had to wear safety glasses.) A form might not be a bad idea.

So the safety issues are a consideration. This is the kind of thing can be done for years/forever without incident. But then you never know. Someone could let get of a hammer in mid-swing or drop it on their foot.

This worked well for us, but since we inherited the booth, I don't necessarily know why specific decisions were made. I only mention this here for anyone starting from scratch.

JHB-
$1,260 - nice! Liked the idea so much I shared it on Twitter. : ) Thanks for posting the idea and the picture. Did the towing/salvage company come pick up the car after the event?


~Lisa

I'm working with a Project Graduation parent group for the class of 2012. If you aren't familiar with these, it takes a LOT of money to run the all-night lock-in party the night of graduation.

We just held a Car Smash booth at a local festival this weekend that was a pretty good success. We made about $1260.

Our community has a huge annual Oktoberfest-type festival in May. All types of organizations, both commercial and non-profit. buy booths to sell food, merchandise, crafts, games. There are some large carnival rides and a midway. Live music. The event runs 5pm -midnight Friday, 10am - midnight Saturday, and 11am - 5pm Sunday.

A local towing/salvage company strips an old car of the engine and all loose parts and delivers the car. (This year a truck.) See a picture . The area around it is taped off and we sell chances to hit it with a sledgehammer. Our prices were $1 per hit or 6 for $5. But we made all kinds of deals, especially when it was slow. Plus all booths can sell bottled water. A local company donated 10 cases of water for us, which we sold at $1 each. (Plus deals, like buy a $5 hit and get a bottle water free.)

It was tough to find enough people to cover the shifts as our core planning group is small. And it was a hot, tiring weekend. But fun, too.

Our only cost was the $75 booth fee, so we're pretty happy with the results.