[Lily]

Hi everyone,

Friday is here, yay!! It's still summer, the weather forecast seems decent (a bit of rain, nothing a good brolly can't fix), so it's time to make plans to get out of the house.

I love a good festival, I have attended the Air Tatoo a couple of times -I like planes and watching the Red Arrows fly, what can I say?- and a couple of car festivals in Bournemouth and I find them fantastic, so I thought it could be a good idea to share with you a list of the upcoming car festivals, so maybe you can organise a family outing or a solo visit to one.

Here it is:


🗓️ UK Car Festivals from July 18, 2025

Event	Dates	Location
London E‑Prix	19–20 July 2025	London
Festival of the Unexceptional	26 July 2025	Grimsthorpe Castle
ExtremeBHP & Revvedup NW Does USC	31 July – 3 August 2025	Santa Pod Raceway, Bedford
British Motor Show	15–17 August 2025	Farnborough International
Silverstone Festival	22–24 August 2025	Silverstone Circuit
CarFest	22–24 August 2025	Hampshire (Laverstoke Park Farm)

Have you been to any of these? Recommend more below!

[Drivingforfun]

I went to this last year, it's almost in my back garden

https://www.shuttleworth.org/events/...nationals-2025

I recommend it if you like old cars, American cars, or both

Lots of heavily modded stuff lowered with engines bursting out the bonnet etc. but plenty of classic things as well

[Lily]

Hey @Drivingforfun I missed your comment somehow! Have you got any pics from the time you attended it?

[Drivingforfun]

[Lily]

Phew... Two Camaros and is that a Mustang 65? Stunning!

You're lucky you have a good festival near your place.

[Drivingforfun]

The sound they make is really beautiful!! I love the effortlessness of them. European cars sound at their best driven as intended which on the roads would mean illegally... to me these sound best burbling away at normal speeds

Although I'd not discourage anyone taking one to the redline either 😏

[Lily]

Haha yes! I mean, I own a Ford Fiesta, so redlining usually just means trying to overtake a lorry on the M4. 😅

But maybe one day… Germany, Autobahn, something loud and powerful like these beauties. I’ll give it the full send, guilt-free.

A girl can dream, right?

[Drivingforfun]

Whenever I hear a V8 redlining in the UK it's an impatient Range Rover driver in a Tesco car park 😂

Is it permitted to take pleasure from the sound of the engine, without supporting the decision to use it at a certain time and place? 🤔

[Lily]

@Drivingforfun 100% permitted 😁

Not the Tesco car park 🤣 By the way, it's officially that time of the year when convertible owners enjoy having those retractable hardtops.

Makes me consider getting myself one of those cute Mini Coopers and then I remember I live in the UK and that it rains 70% of the time.

[Nick]

My first car was a Ford Escort Cabriolet - manual soft top but i loved in the summer that's for sure. I used to drive to work sometimes and loved pulling out of the car park with the hood down! Only got caught out in the rain once, somewhere up on the Yorkshire Moors, had to pull-over and put it up in the rain as it was't one of those fancy, new-fangled electric ones!

[Rolebama]

I think this is worth a visit.
https://knebworthhouse.com/Event/classic-motor-show/

[Lily]

@Rolebama it looks good! Quite the backdrop, and you get a 2x1 day, a castle visit and great cars. Have you been?

[Rolebama]

@Lily I haven't been, no. I just see the cars on the road after. Quite a sight!
FWIW: I have to be very careful of being jostled, so any place with crowds is an automatic no-go area for me.

[Lily]

Ah, I totally get that. I am not a fan of crowds myself, maybe that's why I barely attendy any concerts.

Still, I imagine seeing all those classic cars on the road afterward must be quite the treat! You get to enjoy the show without the shoulder-to-shoulder bits (and for free, may I add). 😊

[Drivingforfun]

r.e. convertibles and weather... I read that in the UK we have the most convertibles (compared against population) out of all the countries in Europe, yet we use them with the top down for the least amount of days out of all countries - including Scandinavia etc.! 🤣

I might be odd but top down in the winter appeals to me, with a wooly hat and decent coat of course

[Drivingforfun]

@Rolebama I went there last year, it's really good.

r.e. jostling, it's nicely spread out, you're not funnelled into small areas and there's lots of sideline areas where you can take a sec to assess and figure out how to get to where you want

[Lily]

@Drivingforfun I was going to say it was impossible that we had the highest number of convertibles, but then I remembered when I was living in Bournemouth, and there were so many that I thought there HAD to be some kind of promotion going on or something.

It honestly felt like Miami (never been to Miami, but that’s how I imagine it 😆).