Chris Evans' family festival CarFest returns to Hampshire farm with a star-studded line up

CarFest South, is returning to Laverstoke Park Farm, August 26 to August 28 for a weekend of cars, cooking, celebrities, music and more.

The three-day festival attracts as many as 60,000 people across the weekend, with around 30,000 attending the farm near Overton each day.

This year, visitors to the family event can enjoy seven festivals in one, including StarFest, FoodFest, SpaFest, KidsFest, AdventureFest, and RetroFest- with all proceeds supporting children’s charities.

The family festival was created by radio star Chris Evans in 2012, who pitched his vision to events manager Chris Hughes.

Chris Hughes, the managing director of CarFest said: “When we started out it was just a few cars and some food and now it’s seven different ones.

“The idea is to be the best family festival in Britain and to do that you have to try and address as many different interests as possible.

“It is the kindest, happiest family place I’ve ever been. It’s sort of how you wish the world was. Full of kindness, full of joy, full of fun, slightly eccentric. It’s like a great big village fete.”

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Taking to the main stage will be a star-studded line-up of artists, including Steps, Seasick Steve, Natalie Imbruglia, Rag ’n’ Bone Man, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Faithless Soundsystem, James Blunt, Kaiser Chiefs, Tom Odell, Paloma Faith, Judge Jules.

Returning as the festival’s official roaming reporters are TV stars AJ Pritchard and Curtis Pritchard who will be out experiencing the festival, taking part in workshops and meeting other celebrities like Paula Radcliffe, Sally Phillips and Adam Woodyatt at StarFest.

Meanwhile, the Kwik Fit-Michelin track and paddock will feature over 120 cars, showcasing the best of modern motorsport, track stars and old-school heroes. Festival goers will also be in with the chance to be taken for a ride round the track.

New this year is SpaFest, an area centralised around health and wellbeing, with activities such as yoga, mindfulness and massages as well as well-being experts and a vegan village.

Since its beginning, the festival has raised over £20 million for charities such as BBC Children in Need, Comic Relief, Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, My Black Dog, Rainbow Trust, Starlight Children’s Foundation and Teenage Cancer Trust. This year, organisers are hoping to raise more than £2 million.

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Chris Evans said: “Every year, we want to make CarFest bigger and better! After celebrating our 10th anniversary last year, we were determined to take it up a gear for 2022 and so have created seven festivals in one with something for everyone, PLUS a line-up that will take our CarFesters on a musical journey through the decades. Our mission, as always, is to raise as much money as possible for UK children’s charities, and I’m confident we’ll smash our £2 million target for this year.”

The managing director along with Chris Evans and many of the celebrities attending, treats the festival as a family holiday. Chris Hughes added: “I also take my family and we always drive back and end up thinking 'I wish the world was a bit more like CarFest.' It’s the happiest place you ever go.

"Laverstoke and Overton and Hampshire and all the communities around have been incredibly supportive of the whole venture all these years and remain so and we’re incredibly grateful.

“When we first went there, people were scared we’d be disruptive and sometimes we are a bit disruptive, but people get it, they support us, and they come. It wouldn’t happen smoothly without so much kindness from the villagers and all the locals.”

For more information go to carfest.org/.