Cullman Amateur Radio Club President Steve Murphree said this year’s crowd at Hamfest was the biggest the festival has ever seen.

Hundreds of amateur radio enthusiasts came together in Cullman on Saturday for the Cullman Amateur Radio Club’s annual Hamfest. 

The festival, hosted at the Cullman Civic Center, routinely sees people coming in from all around the state, and from surrounding states like Mississippi, Tennessee and Georgia, and they all come to meet with each other and buy and sell radio accessories, said Club President Steve Murphree. 

 “This is basically a swap meet for radio gear,” he said. 

For people like Bud Rogers of Moulton, events like Hamfest are now the only place to buy radio parts or other small electronics. 

People used to be able to go to Radio Shack or similar stores for parts, but they have mostly closed down, leaving radio enthusiasts to organize their own events like Hamfest to buy and sell electronics and radio accessories, Rogers said. 

“I’m a radio geek,” he said. “Where else do you go to get stuff like this?” 

Murphree said he estimated around 500 people passing through the festival, and said Hamfest keeps getting bigger every year. 

“This is a nice show this year,” he said. “This is our largest one to date.” 

Word about the festival continues to grow, and Cullman is a great location to hold events like this because of its central location and proximity to the interstate, Murphree said. 

“All these guys are telling me they love coming to Cullman,” he said. 

Bobby Brett came from Waynesboro, Mississippi to sell radio parts at last year’s Hamfest, and came back this year after having a good time. 

He said the 2017 festival is bigger and better than last year’s, and he has had success in selling to fellow radio enthusiasts.

“It’s been good this year so far,” he said. 

Seeing this amount of people coming to an event hosted by the Amateur Radio Club is great, Murphree said. 

“It’s kind of amazing that we’re seeing this kind of turnout with our small club,” he said. “I’m proud of all these people coming to Cullman.”

Murphree said anyone who thinks they may have an interest in amateur radio should come to one of the club’s meetings, held every third Thursday at the Cullman Senior Center.