Music, Food and Family Fun at CarFest South for BBC Children In Need
What started as a sunny weekend soon turned into a tidal wave of rain with torrential downpours and westerly winds, yet nothing could dampen the enthusiasm of the crowds at this year's CarFest South.
Together with CarFest North both events raise money for BBC Children in Need and are organised by DJ, TV presenter and mega car enthusiast Chris Evans.
Having sold out well in advance this annual event is held at Laverstoke Farm, which is owned by former Formula One Champion Jody Scheckter - who now dedicates his time to organic farming.
More Than Just a Car Show
Aside from the obvious collection of cars, encompassing some of the most expensive, famous and exceptionally beautiful motors to ever come together at one event, CarFest South is also the festival to be at if you are looking for a fabulous weekend of family fun.
And if you think festival grounds are a no-go zone for parents with small children; drunken crowds, poor toilet facilities and a limitation on nutritious food, then think again - because CarFest is about coming together as one big happy family.
In a short two years Carfest has fast established itself as the place to be if you have children to entertain - and still want to have some grown-up fun. Aimed at families, CarFest offered more child-friendly entertainment than any other event we have attended.
Car-crazy campers were in their element, hugging the barriers to see the plethora of vehicles on the Hill Climb, with cars speeding up and down a short track throughout the day.
RAF displays and fly-bys entertained the crowds, and with a funfair for the kids, monster truck rides for all, plus a fantastic line-up of music to keep you dancing along well into the evening - what more could you want?
Well... fabulous food and a great pint of cider wouldn't go amiss - and we weren't disappointed!
The quality of local produce on offer was outstanding and it was a welcome change indeed to see 'real' food instead of a trail of burger vans and candy floss booths. With freshly-made curries, noodles and paella on offer the menu was varied and nutritious. For those who were camping, fresh food stalls catered for most peoples needs - with an exceptionally large percentage offering gluten-free choices.
The average drink priced in at around £4 a pint and since it was prohibited to take your own alcohol into the main event, this went a long way to ensuring that the number of people losing awareness and over-drinking was kept to an absolute minimum.
We were pleasantly surprised to see such a high percentage of young children and families at CarFest South, who were all enjoying the fun, the sun and even the rain.
Entertainment for the younger revellers was at a premium and many events throughout the day were targeted towards a younger audience, allowing them to enjoy the festival - as well as their parents.
CarFest South recreates Motorsport History
Motor sport history was recreated at CarFest South when Jody Scheckter climbed back into the revolutionary six-wheeled Tyrrell P34 for the first time in nearly 40 years.
It was back in 1976 that the Tyrrell team introduced one the most radical cars ever seen in Formula One racing. 
The P34's landmark moment came at the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix staged at the Anderstorp circuit in June where Scheckter took pole position and then made history by becoming the only driver ever to win a Grand Prix in a six-wheeled car. Although that was the only win, in total the South African scored no fewer than ten top six finishes in the car from just 12 starts including second place finishes in Monte Carlo, Britain, Germany and America.
In recent years Scheckter has built up a fine collection of his former racing cars and earlier this year acquired the extraordinary Tyrrell P34. With CarFest South taking place quite literally in his own back yard - Laverstoke Park is the organic/biodynamic farm he now owns - it was the perfect occasion for Scheckter to reunite himself with the unique Grand Prix winning machine. The reunion on the fund-raising event's spectacular hillclimb course was one of the weekend's major highlights.
In those days there was a lot more freedom in the design of Formula One cars. I think everyone was surprised by the design - it was kept very secret, even to us as drivers. The Tyrrell wasn't my favourite F1 car to drive but it was certainly a novelty and it's a car that everybody loves to see and talk about. Perhaps, it wasn't quite as a bad as I remembered, however; after all I did win a Grand Prix in it and managed to finish third in the World Championship [Behind James Hunt and Niki Lauda]. It was very controllable and pretty good on street circuits, too, which means it's fairly well suited to racing up and down the farm drive here at Laverstoke!
Jody Scheckter
Adding to the festival's high-octane atmosphere, Scheckter also wowed the sell-out crowds with blasts in his sweet sounding V12 Ferrari 312 T4 - the scarlet machine in which he won the 1979 World Championship title.
Moreover his son Tomas drove the Wolf WR2, the car in which his father won three Grands Prix en route to second place in the 1977 FIA World Championship. Jody - who was joined at Laverstoke by fellow F1 World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart - also revelled in driving a 355bhp Mercedes A45 AMG road car.
The hillclimb also featured a mouth-watering array of competition and supercars including an amazing selection iconic Gulf liveried racers from the RofCo Collection topped by the legendary Porsche 917 as driven by Steve McQueen in the movie Le Mans.
Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason was another to provide some stunning machinery including his priceless Ferrari 250 GTO and equally evocative Jaguar D-type. Mason himself demonstrated several of these on the hillclimb course along with his son-in-law, sportscar racer Marino Franchitti, his wife, Nettie and their son, Cary.
The three-day event was hosted by BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans and helped to raise more than £1m for BBC Children in Need. As well as featuring an amazing line-up of the world's finest road and racing cars, CarFest South also offered a feast of fabulous festival food, great family entertainment for all ages plus live music from top bands including Texas, Keane, Ocean Colour Scene, Jools Holland, Seasick Steve and Amy Macdonald.
For more information visit the official Carfest website at www.carfest.org.