Expectations ran high as we headed to Car Fest South last Friday morning. We’d heard very good things about the festival and Jermaine was lucky enough to be driving on the track for Honda for their 25th anniversary of the Type R so was like an excitable puppy.
After getting lost in a few fields we found our way there and were immediately struck by how laid back it was. As usual we were about 30 minutes late (that will be the Caribbean half of us) and had no idea where we were meant to be but no one seemed to mind and eventually we made it to the ‘Paddock’ where Jermaine got even more sweaty at the sight of a Lancia Delta Integrale rally car (childhood dream).
Lauren and the kids decided there was more to Car Fest than watching Jermaine salivate and headed off to explore the many alternatives. The kids were in the driving seat and opted for almost an hour of colouring on the Mercedes AMG stand (please let us win the weekend in a camper van); zorbing with the Scouts; building a Hot Wheels track (where we came last despite being the only family to get it in the bucket – not bitter), watching the Motocross bikes and hitting up the food fair where the kids big eyes and winning smiles managed to land us bags and bags of freebies.
In the meantime Jermaine took his two turns on the track driving the Honda Civic Type R (FK8) which he described as ‘out of this world’ and the Honda Accord Type R (CH1) which he described as ‘taking him back to his younger days’. Lauren and the kids managed to miss him drive past despite waiting not very patiently, but did see Chris Evans waving from a stunt car and were wowed by the Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flypast.
Once the family were reunited we made our way to the Superhero Academy to watch ‘The Battle of Carfest City’ before heading off for food from a big choice of stalls (lots of cash needed as it’s on the pricey side). Jermaine was disappointed that his chicken wasn’t seasoned but Lauren and the kids were happy with their posh cheese and chips and hotdogs. As the day drew to a close we got into the proper festival vibe, sitting on the grass listening to live music (Lauren drinking beer) until Elijah had a giant nose bleed signally the time to head off into the sunset with Olly Murs singing us out. We would have loved to stay all weekend as there was so much more to do and see and Jermaine now wonders if the Civic type R could be his next family car.
Chris Evans and the team put on a fantastic show (even better that it raises serious cash for Children in Need) and it would be hard for any family not to fall in love with Car Fest.
Written by The Smith family
Disclaimer: we received free entry in exchange for a review but rest assured, we loved CarFest and all our opinions are honest and true 🙂