CarFest North – Friday 23rd/Sunday 25th July 2021

Words & Pictures by Ken Graham – 23rd to 25th July 2021

Festivals, concerts, large gatherings etc, etc – Most of us could only have dreamed of getting back to some of these during the last 18 months or so of Covid.

But, having had the 2020 CarFest North (inevitably) cancelled due to the pandemic there was a genuine sense of hope, but not a little trepidation, about going along to a car focussed music festival in the current climate. This was even more clear when, on the first night from the stage Chris Evans said that Carfest North had been 4 weeks away from going bust, as they had to make a decision 4 weeks from the event date to go ahead and engage all their contractors (at massive expense) with the risk that Covid restrictions might make the festival impossible to run. They took the risk, and boy, are we glad they did!!!

Numbers attending had been reduced to allow a measure of social distancing (although the requirement for this had been lifted in England before the event). This meant it was more comfortable to get around the site and watch the music acts than with the normally much larger, numbers.

We had five Figaros along, myself, Alan and Sheena Harvey; Katherine Clark and Steve Paget; Darren and Lisa Samuels (along with Emily and Alice, CarFest ‘veterans’ having been 14 and 4 months old respectively in 2014 and 2015 at their first CarFests!), and Dominique Pearce and Philip Sparrow. Dominique told me, as we had a pub meal with our fellow participants on the Thursday night, that she had visited the Figaro stand at CarFest North in 2015 at Oulton Park on the Sunday and, by the following Sunday she had her own Figaro!!!

I’ve lost count of the number of people who have said the got their Fig after visiting us at CarFest, but this is the first time one of them has actually ended up joining the club and exhibiting with us!! Setting up on the Thursday was slightly different with confirmation of a negative lateral flow test required before access, with this to be repeated during the weekend. However, the organisation was, as ever, impeccable by Brand Events and given the massive uncertainty the staff had about the event going ahead, they deserve a real vote of thanks for their efforts.

We were, as usual, inundated with visitors to the stand with our usual mix of return visitors who come and see us every year, to those who had either never seen a Figaro or who knew of them and just want to get one!! We love talking about the cars, so it’s a real pleasure when people take the time to come and see us.

Once again, the music offering in the evening covered all tastes, with my personal favourites being The Fratellis; Rag’nBone Man; Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbot and the wonderful CarFest Supergroup – The Feeling supporting Freya Ridings; Beverley Knight and the one and only Roger Daltrey!!!

If you’ve had a look at the 2019 CarFest North photos you will be aware we had just a little rain (biblical downpours, in fact, for 3 days!), but, this year we had NO rain!! The weather was fantastic from start to finish with the only problem keeping hydrated and getting the sunscreen on! All five Figaros have already expressed interest in CarFest North 2022, so, as we might be limited to eight cars for our display please let me know if you fancy it – its usually the 2nd last weekend in July (2022 dates to be confirmed) But, I’m afraid I can’t guarantee the 2021 weather!!!

Enjoy some pictures of the weekend…

Published on 26th July 2021

CarFest North – Friday 23rd/Sunday 25th July 2021

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