CarFest bring Keane, Amy Macdonald, Texas and Jools Holland to Laverstoke

After the roaring success of CarFest North, Chris Evans and his crew are now revving up for this holiday weekend’s CarFest South (23^rd-25^th August) taking place at Laverstoke Park Farm near Basingstoke in Hampshire.

Once again the three-day extravaganza will be crammed with fun for all the family with Evans right at the heart of the action. As well as broadcasting live on BBC Radio 2 on Saturday morning, the hugely popular DJ will be reveling with festival-goers, sharing his three great passions of live music, fabulous food and stunning cars with a sell-out crowd all raising funds for BBC Children Need.

The two events combined look set to raise £1m for the Charity by the time the dust settles at Laverstoke on Sunday evening. 

As you’d expect at the home of 1979 Formula One World Champion Jody Scheckter the line-up of spectacular competition and supercars performing on an extended Sprint track is breathtaking. Scheckter himself will be heading the cast driving the extraordinary six-wheeled Tyrrell P34 F1 car in which he won the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix. Not to be outshone, Evans will be rolling out seven of his finest Ferraris.

Adding to the high-octane entertainment at CarFest on Sunday will be three-time World Champion, Sir Jackie Stewart along with Aston Martin CEO Dr Ulrich Bez who will be leading a special parade of historic Astons to celebrate the iconic marque’s centenary in 2013. Neither will petrol-heads want to miss sight of the fabulous Mercedes Benz W196R – the car driven by racing legend Juan Manual Fangio to victory in the 1955 Belgian Grand Prix. It will be on display outside the IWC Drivers’ Lounge.  

The live music is every bit as impressive with Texas headlining on Friday evening. Saturday sees sets from Keane, Ocean Colour Scene, Alfie Boe and Reef with Jools Holland, Amy Macdonald and Scouting for Girls among those performing on Sunday. As ever all the on-stage action will be hosted enthusiastically by Evans.

Top quality festival food is the third string to CarFest’s remarkable bow and show-goers will be offered a wide range of top class fare catering for all tastes and ages. The Britain’s Best Pavilion will host some of this country’s finest small producers of breads, cheeses, meats, jams, juices and much more. Families will also have the opportunity to turn their hands at making bread, butter, salads and ice-cream at foodie workshops. Laverstoke Park Farm, with a team of local volunteers, will be running no fewer than 6,860 workshops over the three-day event – all completely free.

Add in amazing airshows, a host of brilliant entertainers, outdoor play areas, the special Book & Art Tent, loads of kids driving experiences plus the chance to see just about everything from jousting knights to the JCB Dancing Diggers in the Showground and you can see why the CarFest concept has received such acclaim as the ultimate family festival. There’s even a chance to buy a Jaguar once owned by Chris Evans – one of a number of great lots coming under the Silverstone Auctions’ hammer.

The editorial unit

For further information visit the official Carfest website here.