One Big CarFest- Thursday 24th /Monday 28th August 2023

Words and Pictures: Adam Woods

One of the real privileges of being a member of the Figaro Owners Club is being able to meet members at events! As I frequently say to people who ask about the Figgys, yes they are super little cars, but ownership sees you join a network of Figgy fans who are invariably lovely and nearly always up for fun! Because these unique cars are reasonably affordable, it means that owners tend to be fairly “normal” people … but just with that sprinkling of Figgy magic transposed from the smiles they get from driving their Figs! We may all have had the odd grump who insists the car is a Fiat their grandfather drove in the 50s, but we can let it wash over us as we know we have a Figgy to drive with many miles of many smiles!

I say all this at the start, as another of the joys of attending events, is talking to prospective owners… telling them all the facts, but also highlighting the amazing and lovely people you’ll meet by owning one! But I have a lovely story to share with you about that in a moment…

This year there was just One Big CarFest. Let’s not forget that the purpose of CarFest is to raise money for children’s charities… due to the costs of their doing the event, sadly this year there was just one CarFest event, rather than the North and South events that have taken place in past years. Planning for 2023’s One Big CarFest started in October of last year when we had confirmation that car clubs could again attend for 2023. Last year the club was represented at CarFest North by CarFest stalwart Ken, while the club returned to CarFest South after a few years away with myself taking on the coordinating duties for the first time. As mentioned, this is a charity fundraising event, so that is the focus – consequently, for all the planning in the world, things can be a little hap-hazard, but last year the lovely members and stand visitors we met at CarFest South made me want to do it again. Last year we had eight cars at CarFest North and seven cars at CarFest South, so we were hoping to have a really good turnout for this year! Between October last year and August this year we had a total of 20 members register interest, but in the end (inevitably as life’s priorities happen) we ended up with 12 members attending.

As worked so very well last year, the vast majority of our members joined for dinner on Thursday night at the White Hart in Overton. Originally suggested by Ken as something he did up at North, we arranged a dinner on Thursday night so that as a group we could get to know each other. And the balance this year was perfect – we had six members who had attended last year, and the other six were newbies to the club stand. We all had a good laugh getting to know each other before the busy days ahead. We had already got the cars over and the stand set up the night before, so Friday’s 10 a.m. start was just getting everyone together for a brief chat, and to get any final manoeuvres of the cars to get them into the perfect formation. Sadly Cat and Kevin’s Fig was laid up in the garage, so we ended up with 11 cars on the stand, but 12 pairs of wonderful members, and four kids between us! Over the three days, members were required to be on the stand for just 90 minutes a day, although many spent far longer – simply because it’s so wonderful meeting people and telling them all about the Figaros… not only that, but we were invited to take the cars round the track on the Saturday, and half the cars out to participate in the Overton Parade too! And then Sunday is Fancy Dress Sunday, and our fun-filled members didn’t hesitate to get involved… with particular mention of Heidi and Kev dressed as they were Penelope Pit-Stop and Dick Dastardly!

I mentioned having a lovely story to share, but you know what, there are so many. As you can see in the video of the weekend we have put together, Heidi was interviewed before we headed out on the track about why she has her Fig and the beautiful story she shared. We also meet people year after year – of special note was a dad whose daughter was so enchanted with sitting in a Fig last year that in the intervening time he had bought her one… catching up this year, he mentioned how much happiness it had brought to her… that’s what Figgys are all about – spreading the happiness, spreading the fun. And where the Figs and CarFest work so well together, is that the event is all about raising money for children’s charities – what better car spreading the smiles, can help with that?

On that note, one thing we did for this year was to create a CarFest T-Shirt based on a fab photo of Talullah’s Fig Filbert. Half of the money from each £14 T-Shirt will go to CarFest Children’s Charities – so far we have raised £100, so if you would like one, head over to our eBay page to place your order… https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/smilesandsmiles … we also have a special £25 bundle including Figaro Smiles items https://www.facebook.com/groups/figarosmiles for which half the money will also go to CarFest charities – again available from our eBay store.

Our wonderful members also helped with something else – getting celebrities to sign a couple of T-shirts we had available – and they did an amazing job with autographs from Tim Peake, Mike Bushell, Melanie Sykes, Richard Hammond, Rob Brydon, Eddie Izzardand, of course, Chris Evans! We also have a separate one signed by Ricky Wilson of the Kaiser Chiefs. The idea is that we will be raffling these off for children’s charities – we are just finalising how we go about doing that, so watch this space for more news on this very soon!

Celebrities signing our T-shirts

Celebrities are of course also a big part of the event, across seven different festivals all in the one location… and music is a big part too, with this year seeing Texas as the headline act, alongside the likes of McFly, Razorlight, Reef, Rick Astley, Craig David, The Feeling and Sophie Ellis-Bextor to name but a few!

From our arrival on Thursday, through to our departure on Monday, we had another fantastic experience at CarFest… we hope to confirm the Figaro Owners Club’s attendance at One Big CarFest 2024 in the coming weeks (confirmed to be again near Basingstoke and on the last August bank holiday), but in the meantime, if you can help us raise more funds for CarFest charities, please do by buying a t-shirt, and as mentioned earlier, watch this space for news of those extra special signed T-Shirts!

Finally, a big shout out to the wonderful members who attended this year – such a fun bunch, many of whom we know we’ll see again for CarFest 2024!!