About CarFest

I didn't go to my nearest big festival, Latitude, this year, not even for a day. Nothing on the line-up equated to the expense of a ticket, for me. Instead, the whole Amusements clan decamped to CarFest South instead, and not for a day but for the whole shebang. The Chris Evans-powered festival has grown over the years, and is now a similar size to Latitude, and for the first time was adding prominent book and wellbeing content, billing itself as "seven festivals in one". The obvious preconception for CarFest is that you probably need to have an interest in cars to enjoy it, and watching various exotic, historic and unusual four-wheeled vehicles parade around the track is certainly a focus. But there's a lot more fun to be had, I would say. It also turned out to be the most family-friendly large festival I've ever been to, which might persuade people put off by the petrolhead content. But anyway... in the style of my old Latitude diaries, here's a very brief précis of what we got up to. All photos can be embiggened with a click.

Thursday:

• The campsite opens a day early to allow people to arrive and pitch at leisure if they wish. We did, and got an excellent pitch for our tent right on the perimeter, close to the car park, far from the noise of the main arena, close enough without being too close to the loos. Perfect, in other words.
• Drove into nearby Overton for dinner in a pleasant Italian restaurant, then back to the festival site for...
• Silent Disco : The Big Early. A little stage was set up between the camping area and the entrance to the arenas proper, and a silent disco filled a happy hour. There were three channels of music to choose from, so we donned headsets and got stuck in. Of course this wasn't really a silent disco, since most people were singing along. The headsets had LED lighting, colour-coded to the channel of choice, so you could tell from a cursory glance of the field how popular each channel was by the colour of the listener's headphones. All three channels ended with Bohemian Rhapsody, leading to the biggest and most enjoyable singalong of the lot.

Friday:

• Show 1 : The Track. Yes, we started with the obvious, it being the CarFest USP. Lots of exotic and historic cars whizzing round a purpose built track. I know this sort of thing isn't for everyone, so I won't include too many pictures, but here are a couple: a lovely Audi Quattro rally car and my personal favourite from the event, a sumptuous Aston Martin DBS.
 
• Esther Rantzen in conversation with Adrian Mills : StarFest stage. Caught the tail-end of this, which seemed to be mostly anecdotes about That's Life, although conversation also turned to Childline and Silverline, and how hard it was to fundraise for charities that focus on the elderly. But we only really went along to be early and ensure a good seat for the next session, which was...
• Rob Brydon and Philip Glenister in conversation with Linda Barker : StarFest stage. A slightly odd pairing, and an even odder choice of host (yes, it was that Linda Barker who used to be one of the designers on Changing Rooms) but Rob Brydon can't help but be entertaining, and this was a very enjoyable way to pass three quarters of an hour. Then we headed back to the tent for an early tea, via the Cinch paddock to have a look at some more exotic cars, in good time for our return to the action, specifically...

• James Blunt : Main stage. No, I know. Not my usual cup of tea, but worth a listen, as it turned out. Big CarFest learning - everyone (except us) took folding chairs and, as soon as the gates opened, charged to the Main stage, set up their chairs and claimed their patch for the day. In other words, we were sat a long way back. Blunt ran through his hits, we all recognised more than we expected, and even Amusements Minor proclaimed to like one or two.
• Sophie Ellis-Bextor's Kitchen Disco : Main stage. The breeze picked up a bit during Sophie's set, which played havoc with the sound for those of us sat a long way from the stage. But again, we all recognised more of her back-catalogue than we were expecting, which was nice. Sophie threw in a few covers too, in a nod to the "kitchen disco" she made her own during lockdown, and proved that she can probably do Madonna better than Madonna... Another big CarFest learning - the Main stage actually has two adjacent stages, so there is no waiting around between acts. One act literally follows directly on from the next, which is brilliant. When later asked about this, Chris Evans said the inspiration for it was DJing, and having two decks. Why don't all festivals do this? Anyway, here's a photo of the lovely Sophie E-B.

• Faithless : Main stage. After a bit of a wander, since none of us fancied Tom Walker, it was back to the Main stage for the biggest musical surprise of the whole festival, the surprise being just how much I enjoyed the Faithless set. I was expecting Insomnia and God Is A DJ but I found myself recognising a lot more besides, even if I couldn't name the tracks. I guess I hadn't realised Faithless had been so prolific. Whatever, I found myself enjoying this way more than I had expected. Amazing light show too. Ironically, we headed to bed after set-closer Insomnia... but none of us had any trouble sleeping.

Saturday:

• Chris Evans : everywhere. Saturday began at 8.30am with Chris Evans leading a convoy of golf buggies around the campsite, horns tooting, Virgin radio blaring, waking everyone up. Whatever you think of the bloke, you've got to admire his energy levels - he was involved in so many aspects of the whole festival, popping up at different stages throughout the weekend, plus introducing all the acts on the Main stage, plus driving some of his own exotic cars around the track, plus, plus, plus...
• Show 2 : The Track. Started the day with a leisurely breakfast at the tent, before heading to the arenas and then going our separate ways for a bit, Mrs Amusements to the SpaFest stage and Inspiration Hub for some wellbeing sessions, Amusements Minor and I to play crazy golf and then take in another session of dream cars blatting around the track. Particularly impressive was the sight of ex-Formula 1 world champion Jody Scheckter barrelling around the track in a 6.3-litre V8 bi-turbo Mercedes AMG, proving that a fast car is one thing but a fast driver is something else altogether.
• The Joy Journal for Grown-Ups - Laura Brand in conversation with Russell Brand : StarFest stage. Ostensibly there to talk about her new book, Laura found herself in conversation with ... her husband. Who, inevitably, upstaged her somewhat. There was a huge crowd for this, and we couldn't get very close to see much, but we could hear just fine. Russell, not always everyone's cup of tea, was on fine form.
• Minnie Driver signing : Waterstone's. Mrs Amusements re-appeared and spirited the boy off somewhere, leaving me free to wander. I found myself in the pop-up on-site Waterstone's, and noticed a sign advertising an imminent appearance by Minnie Driver. I quickly purchased her memoir and got in the queue. What do you say to someone famous at a book signing? Especially someone you've liked for thirty years? Well, I was quite near the front of the queue, so I didn't have long to think. Everyone ahead of me had post-it notes with their name on, stuck to the signing page, but I didn't, so I figured that would be my route in to saying more than just "hello" and "thanks". "Hi," said a fresh-faced and smiley Minnie. "Hello," I managed, proffering my copy of her book, open at the obligatory page. "It's to Martin," I said, "but could you sign it to Martin Blank, in an admittedly quite obvious reference to Grosse Point Blank?" "Aaah," said Minnie, "I see. Then I should probably sign it like this." Whereupon she signed it twice, once as Minnie and then, in brackets, as Debi, her character in GPB. "That's perfect," I said, "thank you." Minnie smiled some more, and that was my meeting with her over (if you can even call that meeting). And in case I didn't love her enough already, she was wearing a Nora Ephron t-shirt. And more was to come.
• Minnie Driver and Russell Brand in conversation with Chris Evan : StarFest Xtra. Each day, the last StarFest session would be someone in conversation with Chris Evans, not at the StarFest stage but sat on hay-bales in front of the Main stage. This was billed as Minnie Driver but Russell Brand sort of added himself to the bill. I got a great seat for this, and enjoyed nearly an hour of chat - this is what Chris does best, I think. Minnie talked more about her memoir, and Chris even got her to talk about her break-up from Matt Damon, without either of them mentioning the words "Matt" or "Damon". This led to quite an exchange between Russell and Chris, in which the former anticipated a Katy Perry question and pre-emptively replied by bringing up Billie Piper! All of which was made more interesting by the sudden and expected arrival, and addition to the hay-bales, of Russell's wife, Laura. This session was supposed to end at 3.45pm so that Chris could do an interview with Formula 1 driver Lando Norris on the big screen, but a quick audience vote led to that being cancelled and having an extra ten minutes of Minnie and Russell. A real highlight.

• Jack Savoretti : Main stage. After a bit of R&R back at the tent, and a bolognese-based dinner poorly cooked by yours truly, we headed back down to the Main stage to take in some of Jack Savoretti. The gravel-throated crooner wasn't really to any of our tastes though, and we listened well enough whilst wandering around the paddock some more, taking in a close-up of some of the cars we'd seen on the track earlier in the day. He's alright, Savoretti, I suppose, but I can't imagine myself ever buying a record of his. Sorry Jack.
• Judge Jules : Main stage. We needed hot chocolate (or tea, in my case) to get through this. As unexpectedly brilliant as Faithless had been the day before, Judge Jules was, perhaps expectedly (by me, anyway), nothing to write home about. Lots of people seemed to go for their supper during his set. Many families, small kids in tow, just packed up completely. He let off a few fireworks near the end, at least.
• The Kaiser Chiefs : Main stage. No packing up for us though, the Amusements crew are clearly made of sterner stuff and we made it through to the evening's headliners, though only after I'd played Amusements Minor a couple of tracks on YouTube to maintain his interest. To be honest, the Kaisers were alright, but not much more. Sure, Ricky is an animated and engaging front man but so many of the songs just sound very ... similar. I Predict A Riot and Ruby aside, everything just seemed to merge together. Somewhere, in a field in Hampshire, is a giant tent containing all the chords The Kaiser Chiefs didn't use. Anyway, here's a picture of them in action, taken at the full extent of my old camera's zoom.

Sunday:

• The day began in two strands again, as Mrs Amusements took herself off to the Inspiration hub for some more wellbeing sessions whilst the boy and I played crazy golf again (I topped the leaderboard, nine holes in sixteen shots) and did some paintball target-shooting. It's that kind of festival. Then we had a relatively early lunch, because I was very keen to get to...
• Paula Radcliffe, Steve Cram, Victoria Pendleton and Matty Lee in conversation with Vassos Alexander : StarFest stage. This was very, very popular, drawing one of the largest non-music crowds of the entire festival. And rightly so, considering the sporting achievements of those on-stage. Matty Lee, in case you were wondering, was Tom Daly's dive partner when they won gold at last year's Olympics. Perhaps the recent nature of his acheivement warranted his inclusion with the others, all of whom have been retired for some time. Anyway, as a keen amateur cyclist, I was particularly keen to see and hear Victoria Pendleton, though Crammie was perhaps the most relaxed, natural speaker. Really interesting to hear a difference of opinion from the panel about what sets them, as the elite, apart from us, as amateurs. Nothing, was one view, we could all do if sufficiently motivated. Not so, said Cram, identifying that ultra competitiveness is important, and that you either have that or you don't. I tend to agree. Anyway, my photos of this were spoiled by the couple who, having chosen to sit near the front but behind a family with a push-chair, then stood up throughout. When someone tapped the man on the shoulder and asked him to sit down, he shrugged and said, "Then I wouldn't be able to see," pointing to the pushchair. What a bell-end. So these are the best pictures I managed - sorry Matty.
 
• Rob Brydon and Jimmy Carr in conversation with Chris Evans : StarFest Xtra. Another chat-show performance from Chris on the hay-bales in front of the main stage, this time with Rob Brydon who, with his family, had been at the entire festival, and car-enthusiast Jimmy Carr. This was another very funny and very popular session that, as the previous day's had, ran over time, but nobody was complaining. As you can see from the photograph below, Chris had to drape a hastily-provided sweatshirt over his lap, for fear of exposing himself, as he was wearing quite loose and short running shorts, having taken part in the CarFest fun-run earlier in the day.

• Natalie Imbruglia : Main stage. The rest of Team Amusements went off to find the F1 simulator, whilst I stayed at the Main stage to watch what turned out, for me, to be the absolute musical highlight of the whole festival. There's a temptation to think that, just because Natalie made her name in Neighbours, that she was just another soap-star who jumped on the Minogue/Donovan bandwagon. But by god, she can really sing! Okay, so some of the new material might be a little too MOR for my taste generally, but she has enough of a recognisable back-catalogue for the set to be very entertaining. And as she bounced around the stage in what could be described as an over-emphasised jog as much as a dance, it was easy to cast my mind back to the late 90s and remember that she actually established a bit of street-cred for herself back then, far removed from the SAW-beginnings of her soap-mates. I went into this thinking, okay, it'll be nice to hear Torn live, but came away feeling that Natalie was the highpoint of the weekend's musical offerings. Here she is.

 

And that's where we left it. We didn't hang around for The Horne Section, or Sunday headliner Paloma Faith, because we were all knackered and I had a long drive to do. What do I think of CarFest, then? Well, I think it still needs to strengthen its programme a little, if it is truly going to bill itself as "seven festivals in one", but it does have something for everyone, plus exotic cars the likes of which you'd never see elsewhere. As I mentioned earlier, it's the most family-friendly festival I've ever been too: I saw no "casualties" of over-indulgence anywhere, there were hardly any herbal aromas floating over the Main stage crowd to explain to the boy, and there were plenty of things we could all see or do together. Even the camping field was pretty quiet from about midnight on. It might not have the strongest music programme but yes, I'd recommend it, and the consensus amongst the family was a solid eight out of ten... which is probably a shade higher than I would have rated my day at Latitude last year. Make of that what you will.