What is the Goodwood Festival of Speed?

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is one of the premiere annual events on the car enthusiast calendar. This year it takes place June 23-26 and will feature debuts from major automakers like BMW, never-before-seen race cars and extremely rare bespoke models like the Gordon Murray T.50, Radford 62-2 and Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport.

This year will be the 29th running of the Festival, which will be celebrating 50 years of the BMW M brand. The event had been held continuously since its inception until 2020 when the public portion was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Hill Climb was moved to October and only streamed online.

Where is the Goodwood Festival of Speed?

It takes place every June or July at the Goodwood House in West Sussex, England and attracts tens of thousands of fans. The sprawling grounds, rolling hills and mansion aren't the typical place for a racetrack, hence most of the action takes place on one of the property's hilly roads.

The estate covers 12,000 acres in Chichester, about a two-hour drive from London. In addition to a hill climb course, a race course and an airfield the estate also hosts the Glorious Goodwood and a number of other horse race events.

Who started the Goodwood Festival of Speed?

The event was founded in 1993 by Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, Earl of March (also the 11th Duke of Richmond, 11th Duke of Lennox, 11th Duke of Aubigny and 6th Duke of Gordon), who continues to put on the festival today. Lord March's car enthusiast bona fides include being the president of the British Automobile Racing Club, Patron of the TT Riders Association, and an honorary member of the British Racing Drivers Club, the Guild of Motoring Writers, and the 500 Owners Club.

Gordon-Lennox can be heard on Ford CEO Jim Farley's DRIVE podcast in an upcoming episode.

March wanted to bring racing back to the Goodwood Circuit right across the road, but didn't have a permit so he created an event on his own grounds, which itself is large enough to host 100,000 people. The first event took place on Sunday, June 20, and even though it clashed with the 24 Hours of Le Mans race it still drew 25,000 people. After it again clashed with Le Mans in the second year, when Saturday was added to the schedule, March decided the festival would only be held on non-race weekends going forward. Friday was added in 1996 and in 2010 it stretched out to Thursday afternoon.

What's there to do at the Goodwood Festival of Speed?

There are dozens of experiences over the long weekend starting on Thursday, including display areas for modern and historic Formula One cars, supercars in the Michelin Paddock and electric cars. Additionally, there are rally stages to watch and off-road courses to drive. There's an action sports arena with BMX and motocross stars. But the main event is the Goodwood Hill Climb.

Every year automakers, race team and drivers from across the planet descend on the Goodwood House to race the Hill Climb. A hill climb race is just a timed one-way race, one at a time, up a hill.

The Goodwood Hill Climb course is about 1.2 miles and rises more than 300 feet. It features nine turns mostly bordered by hay bales and the fastest time ever recorded was three years ago in an electric Volkswagen I.D. R Prototype at 39.9 seconds. Driver Romain Dumas who bested the time of Formula One driver Nick Heidfeld, who did in a McLaren F1 car at 41.6 seconds. Heidfeld had the record for 20 years.

F1 cars have stopped competing, though fans will see demonstrations, but everything from NASCAR vehicles to Subarus to front-wheel drive Renault Meganes will be represented, along with other race cars.

The Festival combines the automotive experiences with an air show that features classic British fighter planes.

How can I experience the Goodwood Festival of Speed?

The best way to see the Festival, Hill Climb, art installations and fans is to go in person. As of this writing there are still tickets available for Thursday and Friday's events on the Goodwood website. But four-day passes and Shootout Sunday tickets are sold out. Fans can still get them on other ticket sites, where they go for between $200 and $300 for a weekend pass.

Thankfully the whole event is shown live at the Goodwood Road and Racing Youtube channel. Coverage starts on Thursday, June 23 at 1:50 p.m. London time, so 8:50 a.m. eastern. The channel also has loads of footage of race cars, street cars and classic cars from previous years to peruse through.

Who attends the Goodwood Festival of Speed and what do they wear?

In addition to Hollywood celebrities that make their way over the pond, the grounds are also filled with current and former race car drivers and a good number of members of the British aristocracy.

Unlike the Goodwood Revival, smart casual is the way to go for the Festival. It'll be summertime in London so it will probably be warm and possibly raining. Keep that in mind by wearing layers.

Does the Goodwood area host anything else?

The biggest event besides the Festival of Speed is the Goodwood Revival, starting in 1998 and held at the same Goodwood Circuit Lord March couldn't get approved for. At the Revival, fans come dressed in their best vintage clothes from the track's original operating period of 1948 to 1966. That includes mechanics outfits, old glasses and short pants, lots of hats and military-inspired outfits.

The race cars are also from the same period, barring one event for modern vehicles. There's a one-hour race for GT cars that raced until 1963, a 25-minute race for 2.5-liter Grand Prix cars from 1954 to 1960, the Whitsun Trophy 20-minute race for prototypes up until 1966 and many more.

The three-day event happens September 16-18 this year, and tickets are still available for all days. Revival footage can also be found at the Goodwood Road and Racing Youtube channel.