Britfest – Thursday 4th/Monday 8th July 2024

Words and pictures by Scotland Chapter Coordinator Ken Graham

Summer is the time for Figaro’s and also the time for festivals, and I love them both! As many of you will know I was a devotee of CarFest North from 2014 and organised the Club’s attendance from 2015. Sadly, 2022 was the final CarFest North as it wasn’t proving economically viable – If you have a festival where a large proportion of the profit goes to Children’s Charities it’s pointless if it runs at a loss. On a positive note, thanks to Adam Woods, we have a Club presence at ‘One Big CarFest’ (formerly CarFest South) on the August Bank Holiday weekend at Laverstoke Park Farm in Suffolk. Enough about CarFest!

Imagine my delight when, in late 2023, I noticed publicity on Social Media for a brand new festival being held in Cheshire Ashley Hall Showground near Altrincham – The BritFest – with some fantastic music acts and mentioning ‘Car Displays’. I needed no second bidding and contacted the organisers who could not have been more helpful, and were delighted to invite me to bring some Figaro’s along!

As a new festival, it was on a much smaller scale than CarFest (no bad thing, some may say), and there was almost an element of feeling quite privileged to be at the start of something new that had the potential to develop in the future. Having created the event on the Club’s Events Page and also spoken to some former CarFest attendees, it didn’t take long for interest to be shown and we ended up with nine Figaro’s attending.

We set up on a Thursday evening – 4th July – (postal votes had already been submitted!!) and, as was the practice at CarFest, we all met up for a pub meal. Primarily this allows us all to get to know each other (or to get reacquainted!) but also allows those of us camping to get a decent meal! We had a good mix of campers, caravaners, B&B folk and some members who stayed locally. Our camping area was close to the festival site, and, despite a few (normal) ‘festival toilet issues’! We had a great time. One real benefit of the smaller-scale event was that the organisers were accessible and dealt with any issues quickly.

As usual, we had great interest in our cars during the day and headed off to the music in the afternoon/evening. Some may say (and I can’t disagree) that the music was very ‘age appropriate’ with the likes of Kim Wilde, Bonnie Tyler, Hot Chocolate, T’Pau, Nik Kershaw, Scouting for Girls Tunde (Lighthouse Family) and many, many more. Less well-known acts like The Lottery Winners were absolutely fantastic too!
Headlining on the Sunday night, was the amazing Heather Small (M People).

My thanks go to everyone who participated (a couple of members had unforeseen family illnesses which meant they missed a chunk of the event). Whilst I pull things together, these events only happen if folk sign up and get involved, so thanks to – Alan & Sheena Harvey; Katherine & Steve Paget; Heather & Reid Martin; Gillian & Ade Burns; Kit & Andrew Muffet; Michelle & Mark Storer; Kevin Dodd; Jane Harrop and not forgetting Carol Newman who survived under canvas (and the toilets!!)

BritFest 2025 is happening (3rd to 7th July 2025). I have contacted the organisers and hope we will be invited back again. If we are then the event and all the details will be listed on the Events Page – so WATCH THIS SPACE………..

ENJOY WATCHING OUR MEMBERS ENJOYING THE MUSIC!