Chris Evans Does It Again
The second of Chris Evans' spectacular fund raising CarFest extravaganzas celebrating great cars, scrumptious food and rousing live music was another huge hit with more than 25,000 festival goers savouring two-days of dazzling entertainment in the sunshine at Cholmondeley Castle in Cheshire.
Following fast in the wheeltracks of the inaugural CarFest held at Jody Scheckter's Laverstoke Park Farm in Hampshire over the August Holiday weekend, CarFest North (8th-9th September) once again showcased the radio and TV personality's three greatest passions with Evans himself right to the fore throughout the fun-filled weekend.
The action kicked off on both days with Evans opening the show from behind the wheel of his iconic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and concluded with him on the Main Stage revving up the crowds by introducing a series of chart-topping live bands on both Saturday and Sunday evenings as well as DJing between the acts.
Stars among the cars were Evans own 'Magnificent Seven' collection of Ferraris, Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason in his own Ferrari 512S which starred alongside Steve McQueen in the Le Mans movie plus some incredible driving displays from 2003 World Rally Champion Petter Solberg in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC.
Once the dust settled on the track, music took centre stage with stirring live performances from bands including Texas, Paloma Faith, The Proclaimers, The Magic Numbers and Razorlight.
But while the mouth-watering groups of classic, competition and supercars parading on the hillclimb course and top class bands performing on the Main Stage were right at the heart of the event, CarFest North was very much a family festival with hundreds of different sideshows and displays to involve and entertain those of all ages.
The Main Arena hosted crowd-pleasing jousting displays plus the Dancing JCB Diggers as well as a host of whackier activities such as Welly Walling while the blue skies above Cholmondeley Castle witnessed a huge number of displays and fly-pasts featuring more than eight decades of aviation history.
The amazing Vulcan bomber drew huge cheers from the crowds on the ground while other legendary aircraft such as the Spitfire, Hurricane, Lancaster bomber, Gloucester Meteor plus a pair of RAF Tornados all had their own special admirers.
As wished by Evans, fabulous food was another major CarFest highlight with a veritable feast of culinary delights on offer throughout the festival from an amazing variety of enthusiastic caterers.
Many of this country's finest foods and drinks were on offer in the busy Britain's Best Pavilion which also hosted the early rounds of the 'Cakes v Pies' competition. No fewer than 50 pie makers and 50 cake makers went head-to-head with the top 10 of each going through to Sunday's grand final judged by Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood from the BBC's Great British Bake Off on the Main Stage.
And much to Evans' obvious delight, pies were a clear winner in Cheshire!
CarFest North and South have been a dream team of food, music, cars and fun. The jackpot has been the family atmosphere dictated by the children themselves. Happy smiling faces from dawn till dusk and beyond. Reminding us adults how to play!
Both venues were fabulous and we thank our hosts very much, the Scheckters and the Cholmondeleys. Here's to next year and by the time we've counted all those CarFest pennies, Pudsey and BBC Children In Need should be very happy. Thank you again one and all.
Chris Evans
It is estimated that this summer's two CarFest events will raise more than £800,000 for BBC Children in Need and a final figure will be confirmed later this month.
It was both an honour and a delight for us to host CarFest North on behalf of Chris Evans here at Cholmondeley Castle. CarFest was a truly wonderful weekend packed with first class family entertainment. Wherever you looked there were thousands of happy faces and it was particularly pleasing to see so many children of all ages really enjoying the estate.
Through the annual Pageant of Power, Cholmondeley is already firmly established on the motor sport map; now the huge success of CarFest North has not only added another string to our bow but also enabled us to play our part in helping Chris to raise significant funds for BBC Children in Need.
Lord Cholmondeley joined the thousands of party goers and clearly took much pleasure in hosting such an outstandingly friendly event.