Carfest, also for non car lovers

In Featured Articles by Mimi Granell

As a student, I am about as likely to afford a car as fly in the air unaided and as far away from a car lover as one can get

However, surprisingly, this did not stop me from loving every second of my scorching hot Sunday at C4R-FEST South 2019. Whether you’re into fast cars, fast food or prefer boogying in a field to live music; this is one festival that caters to everyone’s needs.

Allow me to set the scene for you, whilst I might have needed a degree in orienteering to the enter the festival due to its dire lack of signage; the buzz that lay beyond the gates pacified any frustrations. Once through security, we were greeted by a medley of classic fairground rides. All of which had been given a C4R-FEST twist, a children’s carousel for example strewn with miniature Austin Healey’s.

Jody Scheckter’s two and a half thousand-acre farm was transformed into more micro-worlds to home the 25,000 attendees than ever before. From the petrol head’s favourite ‘showground’ to an entire ‘kingdom’ dedicated to the learner drivers of tomorrow. In the earlier hours of the day, huddles of families sat around giant screens in bean bags watching as one by one, each car took to the tarmac catwalk. Others lent over the track’s barriers for a closer viewing experience, devouring ice creams as another driver sped past leaving only the smell of fumes trailing behind them.

Chris Evans and the C4R-FEST team bravely allowed its younger car lovers to plonk themselves behind the steering wheel in ‘The Big Learner Relay’. And teased car fanatics with the latest models from such brands as Jaguar, Mercedes and Aston Martin in the Motor-show. Fussy eaters need not fear, there is guaranteed to be something you’ll delight in devouring. Varying from Greek Gyros to dirty fries and beef burgers, attendees should reserve their diet cheat days for this special occasion. Into the evening, children could be seen running around in sugar-induced giddiness with crepes and doughnuts in hand.

The duration of my day was spent checking out the hundreds of stalls and sipping cider in the sun from my reusable cup. A personal highlight from the day was the live concert in the evening, with Texas kicking off proceedings. Other big names such as Sister Sledge, Tom Odell, The C4R-FEST Kids Choir, The C4R-FEST Super Group, The Human League and Boy George. Children from all the chosen charities performed in the C4R-FEST Kids Choir with their rendition of ‘Roar’ and ‘Happy Ending’, not leaving a dry eye in the field. Following their singing, Chris Evans tearfully brought a young boy onto the stage that had saved his mum from having a stroke amongst the crowd with the help of stewards only hours before.

At the beginning of my first ever C4R-FEST experience I did not imagine I would end my evening singing ‘Don’t you want me’ in a fairy-lit field with my parents. But it was refreshing! To not see a sea of phones (not just because of the lack of signal), or agitated people pushing to the front of the stage. Instead, as the night ended, all we saw were families enjoying each other’s company.

What is better than having a good time in aid of a great cause? All this year’s profits, alongside 25% percent of each festival-goers ticket, were donated to a variety of UK Children’s charities. The BBC Children in Need and Starlight Children’s Foundation being amongst those to receive the generous donations.

Mimi Granell

Journalist

Mimi Granell is a current Journalism and Media Undergraduate studying at UWE in Bristol. After years of being unbearably nosey, Mimi thought it was only fitting that she put her curiosity to good use. She is an advocate of ‘telling it, how it is’ and is interest in learning more about how society works.