Chris Evans CarFest: It’s all coming together

Chris Evans’ CarFest South & CarFest North are on track to deliver great weekends of petrolhead delight at Laverstoke Park Farm & Cholmondeley Castle.

Listeners to Chris Evans’ Radio 2 Breakfast Show discovered Chris’s plans for his very own car festival – to benefit the BBC Children in Need Charity – when Chris was looking for a way to take his mind off bread for Lent, and CarFest was born.

The CarFest plan was nothing more than a brief outline for a great weekend – super cars, great food and terrific music – but soon gained a life of its own as word spread of Chris’s plans. Before anyone knew what was happening CarFest was announced at Laverstoke Park Farm and the tickets sold out.

That quickly lead to plans for a CarFest North at Cholmondeley Castle, which also sold out in no time, and now, with Laverstoke due on 25-25 August and Cholmondeley Castle on 8-9 September, there’s proper flesh on the bones of the Evans plan.

On the car front we have:

• Chris’ Magnificent Seven: Ferrari 275 GTB; Ferrari 288 GTO; Ferrari F40; Ferrari 512 Testarossa; Ferrari 599 SA Aperta; Ferrari FF and Ferrari 458 Spider.
• European Supercars: Lamborghini Aventador; McLaren MP4-12C; Porsche Carrera GT; Aston Martin DBS; Mercedes SLS; Maserati MC Stradale; Ferrari 458 Spyder.
• US Supercars: Shelby Mustang; Ford GT; Dodge Viper ACR; Chevrolet Corvette ZR1; Saleen S7 Twin Turbo and SSC Ultimate Aero.
• Far East Supercars: Nissan GTR; Honda NSX; Mazda RX7; Nissan Skyline R35 GTR; Toyota Supra Twin Turbo; Lexus LF-A and Subaru Impreza R1.
• Motorsport: Marussia F1 car; WRC car; BTCC car; Bowler Nemesis; Silk Cut Le Mans Jaguar; Pikes Peak Peugeot 405 T16 and Radical.
• £1 Million or More: Aston Martin One-77; McLaren F1; Ferrari Enzo; Bugatti Veyron; Lamborghini Reventon; Pagani Zonda Cinque and Koenigsegg Agera R.
• Group B Rally Cars: Audi Quattro S1 E2; Lancia Delta S4; MG Metro 6R4; Ford RS200; Peugeot 205 T16 E1; Renault 5 Maxi Turbo and Toyota Celica Turbo.
• Historic F1: Williams-Renault FW18 (Damon Hill’s 1996 Championship winner); Benetton B192 (Michael Schumacher’s 1992 maiden grand prix winner); Lotus 101 (Nelson Piquet’s 1989 car); Lotus 72 (Emerson Fittipaldi’s 1972 Championship winner); Lotus 80 (Mario Andretti’s 1979 car); Brabham BT42 (Carlos Reutemann’s 1973 car); Brabham BT7 (Jack Brabham’s 1964 car) plus an ex-Jody Scheckter Ferrari.
• Design Classics: Lamborghini Miura; Aston Martin DB4; Jaguar E-type; Mini Cooper S; Citroen DS; Mercedes SL Gullwing and Ford Mustang GT390 Fastback.
• Gorgeous: Maserati MC-12; Ford GT40; Alfa Romeo 8C Cloverleaf; AC Cobra; Jaguar XJ220; Aston Martin V12 Zagato and Pagani Huaya.
• Unusual: Superbike; Carver One; JCB Dragster; Sinclair C5; KTM X-Bow; Peel P50 and VW Beetle V8.

On top of all that there will be huge car galleries organised by car clubs and enthusiasts, a classic car auction by Silverstone Auctions and enough petrolhead goodness to sate the appetite of even the most ardent car fan.

Music is the key for the evening fun at both CarFests, with Chris hosting a variety of tribute bands including Counterfeit Stones, Ultimate Eagles and Bootleg Beatles, and the real McCoy in the shape of  Texas, Razorlight, The Magic Numbers and Merrymouth at both Fests, plus The Feeling at Laverstoke and Paloma Faith and The Proclaimers at Cholmondeley.

No weekend is complete without good food, of which there will be a huge selection, great family entertainment, from air displays to Dancing JCB Diggers, and the ability to camp and get muddy. They’re all there at CarFest.

All of which sounds like an advert for CarFest – which it is. The only problem is, it’s all sold out. Except for a handful of VIP tickets and a handful of tickets for CarFest North.

So you’d better hurry up.