CarFest is an annual family music and motoring

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

held in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

and

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England. It was founded by the radio presenter Chris Evans in 2011, and raises funds for Children in Need, a British charity. The festival presents a variety of entertainment - live music performances, track shows, "

celebrity chef A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in printed publications. While television ...

" demos, driving experiences, a

steam fair Live steam is steam under pressure, obtained by heating water in a boiler. The steam is used to operate stationary or moving equipment. A live steam machine or device is one powered by steam, but the term is usually reserved for those that a ...

, a fundraising family fun run and a carnival fancy dress parade.

Dates

Both events have taken place annually since 2012, with the exception of 2020 when they were cancelled due to

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The North event has been held at 3 locations throughout

, including

Cholmondeley Castle Cholmondeley Castle ( ) is a country house in the civil parish of Cholmondeley, Cheshire, England. Together with its adjacent formal gardens, it is surrounded by parkland. The site of the house has been a seat of the Cholmondeley family since ...

Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection a ...

, and the Bolesworth Estate, with the South event being held at Laverstoke Park Farm in

Overton, Hampshire Overton is a large village and parish in Hampshire, England located west of the town of Basingstoke, and east of Andover and Whitchurch. The village contains smaller hamlets of Southington, Northington, Ashe, Polhampton, and Quidhampton, the l ...

every year since its debut.

Scalextric

For the 2015 CarFest South, former F1 driver

Martin Brundle Martin John Brundle (born 1 June 1959) is a British former racing driver, best known as a Formula One driver and as a commentator for ITV Sport from 1997 to 2008, the BBC from 2009 to 2011, and Sky Sports since 2012. Brundle contested the 19 ...

created a 45-metre

Scalextric Scalextric is a brand of slot car racing sets which first appeared in the late 1950s. The Scalextric were first invented by engineer B. Fred Francis, when he added an electric motor to the ''Scalex'' tin cars that were produced by Minimodels Ltd ...

circuit.

Air crash

During the 2015 event, held at

, Cheshire, a

Folland Gnat The Folland Gnat is a British compact swept-wing subsonic fighter aircraft that was developed and produced by Folland Aircraft. Envisioned as an affordable light fighter in contrast to the rising cost and size of typical combat aircraft, it wa ...

aircraft, one of pair performing a display, crashed into the ground, killing the pilot,

Kevin Whyman Kevin Whyman (4 October 1975 – 1 August 2015) was an English rower and air pilot. Whyman died in an aviation accident at the 2015 CarFest. Whyman rowed for the King's School Rowing Club. In 1996 and 1997, he was the cox for The Boat Race-w ...

CarFest Supergroup

Richard Jones of "The Feeling" put together the CarFest Supergroup, on behalf of

Evans Evans may refer to: People *Evans (surname) *List of people with surname Evans Places United States *Evans Island, an island of Alaska *Evans, Colorado *Evans, Georgia *Evans County, Georgia *Evans, New York *Evans Mills, New York *Evans City, ...

, who released a live double album for the 10th anniversary of the music and motoring festival, with the profits going to a number of charities including the Teenage Cancer Trust and the Starlight Children’s Foundation. Vocalists/musicians on the album include

Roger Daltrey Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the Rock music, rock band The Who. Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include "My Generation", "Pinball Wizard", "Won't Ge ...

KT Tunstall Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall (born 23 June 1975) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained attention with a 2004 live solo performance of her song " Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on '' Later... with Jools Holland''. Th ...

Gary Kemp Gary James Kemp (born 16 October 1959) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known as the lead guitarist, backing vocalist, and principal songwriter for the New Romantic band Spandau Ballet. Kemp wrote the lyrics and music ...

, Ricky Wilson and Jones' wife

Sophie Ellis-Bextor Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded Ellis-Bextor went solo and ach ...

References

{{Reflist 2012 establishments in England Recurring events established in 2012 Festivals in England

Car Show An auto show, also known as a motor show or car show, is a public exhibition of current automobile models, debuts, concept cars, or out-of-production classics. It is attended by automotive industry representatives, dealers, auto journalists a ...