Silverstone Classic( as was) & CarFest
Discussion
Announced this am that CarFest is moving to Silverstone next year & seems to be the same weekend as what was the Classic.
Is that likely to mean even less racing and more emphasis on ‘family fun’?
We’ve not been for a year or two as the off track stuff, music and the like, had been bloody awful. Not been to CarFest so don’t know if that’s going to be a positive or just further erosion of what was a great event for those of us who’ll like racing and old cars.
Anyone been & able to comment?
Is that likely to mean even less racing and more emphasis on ‘family fun’?
We’ve not been for a year or two as the off track stuff, music and the like, had been bloody awful. Not been to CarFest so don’t know if that’s going to be a positive or just further erosion of what was a great event for those of us who’ll like racing and old cars.
Anyone been & able to comment?
Seems like the car fest was struggling after an initial boom, so Silverstone just bought the name, their event is hugely based on car clubs, music etc with racing as an aside, hence the daily visit ticket prices, car club discounts and 3 day ticket discounts.
I think a 3 day ticket costs 160 quid, whereas if you only want to visit for one day you are talking not far off 270 for daily prices
I think a 3 day ticket costs 160 quid, whereas if you only want to visit for one day you are talking not far off 270 for daily prices
I heard the rumours and had hoped it wasn't true. However I've also heard that Carfest is only taking the weekend spot and not actually merging with the festival, which may mean SF will take place in a new form and on a new date? Again if someone can confirm please..!
I've not been to Carfest but SF was brilliant this year imho; the F1 anniversary celebrations in particular were epic. The luxury of exploring all pit garages and both paddocks (all included in the general ticket) was pretty mind-blowing and getting up close to the likes of Group C and legendary historic F1 cars was quite the experience! Didn't stay for the music but I would say in terms of the emphasis on a "family day out" (which I'd been skeptical about too) I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of action on track and the kids activities were kept pretty separate to the main show.
I went over 2 days and thoroughly enjoyed it, despite track visibility at Silverstone generally being a bit crap. The grandstands were free though and often not very crowded. Really hope it returns in the same spirit next year!
I've not been to Carfest but SF was brilliant this year imho; the F1 anniversary celebrations in particular were epic. The luxury of exploring all pit garages and both paddocks (all included in the general ticket) was pretty mind-blowing and getting up close to the likes of Group C and legendary historic F1 cars was quite the experience! Didn't stay for the music but I would say in terms of the emphasis on a "family day out" (which I'd been skeptical about too) I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of action on track and the kids activities were kept pretty separate to the main show.
I went over 2 days and thoroughly enjoyed it, despite track visibility at Silverstone generally being a bit crap. The grandstands were free though and often not very crowded. Really hope it returns in the same spirit next year!
When I was at Silverstone Festival 2025 the commentators were announcing that it was the last one, due to Chris Evans Carfest moving to Silverstone on the same bank holiday. The way it came across to me, was that Carfest had possibly managed to get the date before Silverstone Festival had. That was just my opinion though. Carfest had also apparently released comms that they d out grown Laverstoke Park.
Having been to both events. Carfest is somewhere you take the kids for music, fun and games, with car demos and club stands thrown in. There s not a huge amount of cars there both on display and on demo runs. Silverstone Festival I m an avid supporter of, as bang for buck I don t think you can go wrong. Top notch racing for not a lot of money if you use a 2 for 1 club stand code and go for 3 days. Even the camping was very reasonable at Woodlands, with fantastic facilities.
Having been to both events. Carfest is somewhere you take the kids for music, fun and games, with car demos and club stands thrown in. There s not a huge amount of cars there both on display and on demo runs. Silverstone Festival I m an avid supporter of, as bang for buck I don t think you can go wrong. Top notch racing for not a lot of money if you use a 2 for 1 club stand code and go for 3 days. Even the camping was very reasonable at Woodlands, with fantastic facilities.
I find the pricing at the classic is very targeted towards car clubs and people who are wanting to be there multiple days.
If you want to day visit, the cost is astronomic, even more expensive than the FoS, I think 90 quid each, which is crazy really.
Not everyone can or wants to attend for 2 or 3 days, but that is how they sell it, exclusively, y9u would almost be an idiot yo go one day, that is literally how it is priced
Happy to be idiotic, greed stinks
If you want to day visit, the cost is astronomic, even more expensive than the FoS, I think 90 quid each, which is crazy really.
Not everyone can or wants to attend for 2 or 3 days, but that is how they sell it, exclusively, y9u would almost be an idiot yo go one day, that is literally how it is priced
Happy to be idiotic, greed stinks
SFIELDS said:
I heard the rumours and had hoped it wasn't true. However I've also heard that Carfest is only taking the weekend spot and not actually merging with the festival, which may mean SF will take place in a new form and on a new date? Again if someone can confirm please..!
I've not been to Carfest but SF was brilliant this year imho; the F1 anniversary celebrations in particular were epic. The luxury of exploring all pit garages and both paddocks (all included in the general ticket) was pretty mind-blowing and getting up close to the likes of Group C and legendary historic F1 cars was quite the experience! Didn't stay for the music but I would say in terms of the emphasis on a "family day out" (which I'd been skeptical about too) I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of action on track and the kids activities were kept pretty separate to the main show.
I went over 2 days and thoroughly enjoyed it, despite track visibility at Silverstone generally being a bit crap. The grandstands were free though and often not very crowded. Really hope it returns in the same spirit next year!
The Silverstone Festival is reverting to the Silverstone Classic and will be taking place on the weekend of the 25/26th July ‘26.I've not been to Carfest but SF was brilliant this year imho; the F1 anniversary celebrations in particular were epic. The luxury of exploring all pit garages and both paddocks (all included in the general ticket) was pretty mind-blowing and getting up close to the likes of Group C and legendary historic F1 cars was quite the experience! Didn't stay for the music but I would say in terms of the emphasis on a "family day out" (which I'd been skeptical about too) I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of action on track and the kids activities were kept pretty separate to the main show.
I went over 2 days and thoroughly enjoyed it, despite track visibility at Silverstone generally being a bit crap. The grandstands were free though and often not very crowded. Really hope it returns in the same spirit next year!
I guess the focus will be more on the racing/car clubs with some (more limited) off-track activities.
Provisional dates are on the HSCC website: -
https://hscc.org.uk/racing-calendar-2026/
61GT said:
SFIELDS said:
I heard the rumours and had hoped it wasn't true. However I've also heard that Carfest is only taking the weekend spot and not actually merging with the festival, which may mean SF will take place in a new form and on a new date? Again if someone can confirm please..!
I've not been to Carfest but SF was brilliant this year imho; the F1 anniversary celebrations in particular were epic. The luxury of exploring all pit garages and both paddocks (all included in the general ticket) was pretty mind-blowing and getting up close to the likes of Group C and legendary historic F1 cars was quite the experience! Didn't stay for the music but I would say in terms of the emphasis on a "family day out" (which I'd been skeptical about too) I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of action on track and the kids activities were kept pretty separate to the main show.
I went over 2 days and thoroughly enjoyed it, despite track visibility at Silverstone generally being a bit crap. The grandstands were free though and often not very crowded. Really hope it returns in the same spirit next year!
The Silverstone Festival is reverting to the Silverstone Classic and will be taking place on the weekend of the 25/26th July 26.I've not been to Carfest but SF was brilliant this year imho; the F1 anniversary celebrations in particular were epic. The luxury of exploring all pit garages and both paddocks (all included in the general ticket) was pretty mind-blowing and getting up close to the likes of Group C and legendary historic F1 cars was quite the experience! Didn't stay for the music but I would say in terms of the emphasis on a "family day out" (which I'd been skeptical about too) I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of action on track and the kids activities were kept pretty separate to the main show.
I went over 2 days and thoroughly enjoyed it, despite track visibility at Silverstone generally being a bit crap. The grandstands were free though and often not very crowded. Really hope it returns in the same spirit next year!
I guess the focus will be more on the racing/car clubs with some (more limited) off-track activities.
Provisional dates are on the HSCC website: -
https://hscc.org.uk/racing-calendar-2026/
This is nothing to with with UK motorsport, this is JUST Silverstone doing Silverstone things, nothing more.
They clearly don't want them there and Masters got a better deal elsewhere where they were treated how they think they should be, so this means hopefully the Classic becomes less popular and reverts back to what it ought to be, a cheaper, historic meeting in comparison to Goodwood events.
I have no issue with this, Silverstone yet again treating people who have been with them for a very long time, like dirt.
They have what they want, their Carfest event, that is what they want, people who want to spend money, kids, music, all that garbage that the masses love, you could not pay me to go to such stuff, I know a few people who went and that was it, one visit never again.
Good luck to them, due to the way they treat a lot of people at the so called home of motorsport my business went elsewhere a long time ago and I hope a few more do the same.
They clearly don't want them there and Masters got a better deal elsewhere where they were treated how they think they should be, so this means hopefully the Classic becomes less popular and reverts back to what it ought to be, a cheaper, historic meeting in comparison to Goodwood events.
I have no issue with this, Silverstone yet again treating people who have been with them for a very long time, like dirt.
They have what they want, their Carfest event, that is what they want, people who want to spend money, kids, music, all that garbage that the masses love, you could not pay me to go to such stuff, I know a few people who went and that was it, one visit never again.
Good luck to them, due to the way they treat a lot of people at the so called home of motorsport my business went elsewhere a long time ago and I hope a few more do the same.
Edited by bergclimber34 on Sunday 30th November 17:49
I was looking at this yesterday and I was impressed at how cheap the tickets now they've removed the festival element of the event. They're early bird pricing right now but £15 for the Friday(!), £35 for Saturday/Sunday and £60 for the weekend seems reasonable to me. I suspect Silverstone will only open a few grandstands but my initial thoughts are that separating the event into two might be a good move from Silverstone.
Possibly as tickets were heavily discounted, seems strange though as nearly everyone I know who attended in recent years took advantage of car club discounts to attend, I did not and found the single day tickets outrageously dear, which also suggests they did not sell many as most folk bought multi day passes which again were discounted heavily
If they drop most of the music-festival stuff and make it feel like a proper historic race weekend again, I’m all for it. I just hope they don’t lose the car club element completely, because that was a big part of the atmosphere and the value. Let’s see what grids and access they confirm before July.
ChrisJ. said:
It doesn't look like there any provision for car club stands at the BRDC Classic.
I have just read on one car club forum that a member of Silverstone staff has confirmed that they are having a meeting to discuss whether or not to have car club stands at the BRDC Classic.Here's hoping.
Now, on the Silverstone website:
Home page,
'Get In Touch' (at the top of the page)
'BRDC CLASSIC EVENT FAQs'
YES to the following:
Car Club displays
Car Club packages
Shopping village
Evening entertainment
Camping
So there you are!
Home page,
'Get In Touch' (at the top of the page)
'BRDC CLASSIC EVENT FAQs'
YES to the following:
Car Club displays
Car Club packages
Shopping village
Evening entertainment
Camping
So there you are!
Edited by ChrisJ. on Wednesday 4th February 17:36
Edited by ChrisJ. on Wednesday 4th February 17:37
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