CarFest South 2014
Discussion
I went to Carfest North the first year when it was at Cholmondeley, even though they'd been banging on about it being sold out it ten minutes, I just paid on the door. I don't know if it was dearer that way (probably was) but I didn't have far to travel so it was worth giving it a go.
ThunderSpook said:
Just got back. Knackered!
What did you think of it? I went last year with work, we packed up and left by midday Saturday and I stayed on got friends and family up and finished the show. For something that is billed as a car event I found it too be very lacking. However as an event for children and for music I thought it was brilliant certainly very safe surroundings for taking kids along.
As a nice day out I actually thought it was pretty good. The cars were more of a token gesture really, no looking round the paddock like FoS and the runs up the hill were a bit of a joke.
Not sure there would be enough to entice me to spend more than a day there, all we did most of the day was just shop which was bloody expensive.
Not sure there would be enough to entice me to spend more than a day there, all we did most of the day was just shop which was bloody expensive.
ThunderSpook said:
As a nice day out I actually thought it was pretty good. The cars were more of a token gesture really, no looking round the paddock like FoS and the runs up the hill were a bit of a joke.
Not sure there would be enough to entice me to spend more than a day there, all we did most of the day was just shop which was bloody expensive.
Sounds like you didn't see a large part of it then - including the paddock. The paddock had all the cars that ran up the "hill" and more. Not sure there would be enough to entice me to spend more than a day there, all we did most of the day was just shop which was bloody expensive.
The paddock was beyond the main stage and show ground area if you came in as a day visitor.
http://www.carfest.org/files/carfest_south_2014_ma...
For a family event with a slant towards cars CarFest has the balance just about perfect.
The entry, parking and leaving was incredibly painless. No queues whatsoever driving in or leaving. No queues for food, drink or toilets either.
We thought this year was probably the best and struggled to get to see everything in one day and will definitely aim for a camping ticket next year and forget about FoS.
ThunderSpook said:
I definitely saw the paddock but it was all fenced off.
Odd as it wasn't when we were there. In fact I was some what amazed that the La Ferrari, Lightweight E-Type and LFA etc. weren't given their rarity.Completely open and incredible access.
Maybe fenced off whilst the runs in progress?
Agent Orange said:
ThunderSpook said:
I definitely saw the paddock but it was all fenced off.
Odd as it wasn't when we were there. In fact I was some what amazed that the La Ferrari, Lightweight E-Type and LFA etc. weren't given their rarity.Completely open and incredible access.
Maybe fenced off whilst the runs in progress?
The paddocks were opened to the public at set times through the day and everyone was welcome to come in and get close to the cars and talk to the owners and support crews.
It is very friendly. Even more accessible than FoS. There were some very rare and valuable cars there and no velvet ropes holding people back.
It is not a festival for out and out petrol heads and nothing else.
I would say calling the runs a bit of the joke is very harsh indeed! However, the festival of speed it aint - its not an out and out car event (despite its name). Car accessibility was sporadic. I think they had open periods,but not all the time.
Downsides:
Not THAT many exciting cars.
The 'sevens' grouping is a bit contrived.
SWMBO and I did weekend camping, and there was really only maybe a day and a half things to do.
I still think Chris Evans likes the sound of his own voice too much (he talked over red 10 for crying out loud!)
Upsides:
Beer tasting with Jody Scheckter (though some bloke off the TV managed to ruin it a bit by wittering on pointlessly)
Red Arrows at sun set did look great
Both Lancasters flew over.
The Chinook and Apache flying displays were great.
Saturday nights music was great (Kaiser Chiefs and Seasick Steve were great)
Loads of great food
You can poke about all sorts of nice cars, (new Maserati Ghibli and Quattroporte, BMW i8, Morgan Speedster)
Whilst it isn't a great track, you are REALLY close to the cars
Including:
Gulf McLaren F1 GTR from '96.
Ex McRae Impreza WRC
Focus WRC.
Several Rally 911s
Audi Quattro A1 (proper one, not the jumped up super mini)
LaFerrari
250 SWB
Noble M600
Tyrell P34
Benetton B193
Mark Webber gave it the real berries in a rally 911 (at no point were the drivers announced, Evans larter implied it was him).
Have to say the bit which left an impression of me is Jody Scheckter driving his personal A45 AMG. You don't get a total impression of the skill of F1 drivers as you never see one driven by someone average (and not Maldonado isn't average - he is still much better than you!) I saw Schekter drive up the road in his, and frankly I could not have done it at 75% of the speed he could in what was presumably 'muck about' mode. Really impressed me.
Sumamry:
Its an all round day out, and family friendly - though not just for families. However, what it isn't is a car nerd fest, so if you want Goodwood levels, you'll just end up b
hing about it.
I would say calling the runs a bit of the joke is very harsh indeed! However, the festival of speed it aint - its not an out and out car event (despite its name). Car accessibility was sporadic. I think they had open periods,but not all the time.
Downsides:
Not THAT many exciting cars.
The 'sevens' grouping is a bit contrived.
SWMBO and I did weekend camping, and there was really only maybe a day and a half things to do.
I still think Chris Evans likes the sound of his own voice too much (he talked over red 10 for crying out loud!)
Upsides:
Beer tasting with Jody Scheckter (though some bloke off the TV managed to ruin it a bit by wittering on pointlessly)
Red Arrows at sun set did look great
Both Lancasters flew over.
The Chinook and Apache flying displays were great.
Saturday nights music was great (Kaiser Chiefs and Seasick Steve were great)
Loads of great food
You can poke about all sorts of nice cars, (new Maserati Ghibli and Quattroporte, BMW i8, Morgan Speedster)
Whilst it isn't a great track, you are REALLY close to the cars
Including:
Gulf McLaren F1 GTR from '96.
Ex McRae Impreza WRC
Focus WRC.
Several Rally 911s
Audi Quattro A1 (proper one, not the jumped up super mini)
LaFerrari
250 SWB
Noble M600
Tyrell P34
Benetton B193
Mark Webber gave it the real berries in a rally 911 (at no point were the drivers announced, Evans larter implied it was him).
Have to say the bit which left an impression of me is Jody Scheckter driving his personal A45 AMG. You don't get a total impression of the skill of F1 drivers as you never see one driven by someone average (and not Maldonado isn't average - he is still much better than you!) I saw Schekter drive up the road in his, and frankly I could not have done it at 75% of the speed he could in what was presumably 'muck about' mode. Really impressed me.
Sumamry:
Its an all round day out, and family friendly - though not just for families. However, what it isn't is a car nerd fest, so if you want Goodwood levels, you'll just end up b
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