While TV viewers tuned in to watch ITV’s pre-recorded The Voice, with Sir Tom Jones bringing the audience and his fellow coaches to tears – will.i.am, Kelly Rowlands and the two lads from McFly, Danny Jones and Tom Fletcher – with a flawless and emotionally-charged vocal on the Leonard Cohen song “Tower of Song”, the 86-year-old legend was relaxing backstage at CarFest 2026 ahead of his headline set to close day two.
CarFest moved to Silverstone race circuit this year – held across the three day August bank holiday weekend, with a sparkling lineup of live music, including Friday’s headliner Jessie J, and Sunday’s finale’s bill toppers Nile Rodgers and Chic, plus many more big musical names and a slew of celebrity appearances .
The event was previously based at Laverstoke Farm in Hampshire – a 2,500 acre farm owned by ex-racing driver and 1979 Formula 1 World Champion Jody Scheckter – which was it’s home since TV and radio presenter Chris Evans began the UK’s biggest children’s charity family fundraising festival in 2012 – before a move to its new home in Northamptonshire.
Carfest, presented by BP Pulse is far more than just the live music on several stages, it is a family-friendly eclectic arts festival with authors, chefs, comedians, actors, athletes, and many celebrity appearances across the event.
Not forgetting the HUGE appeal for petrolheads with cars galore on and off the track, from vintage to rare and lots of valuable supercars, and many famous faces from the motoring world. Richard “Hamster” Hammond from Top Gear and The Grand Tour for one.
CarFest’s children’s charity partners include BBC Children in Need, Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, Rainbow Trust, Starlight Children’s Foundation, Teenage Cancer Trust and Young Epilepsy, continuing its charity mission to help vulnerable children, and it has which raised in excess of £27M so far. 10% of every CarFest ticket and 100% of profits go to supporting the wide range of UK charities, along with money raised through on-site fundraising initiatives at CarFest 2026.
Today (Saturday) saw appearances and performances from Sir Tom Jones, The Sugababes, James Morrison, Huey Morgan, Rick Parfitt Jr., Joe Wicks, Dame Pru Leith, Richard Hammond, Sir Mo Farah, Ricky and Melvin, and of course CarFest boss Chris Evans, and more. Plus lots of cars on and off the track.
Day 1 a few scattered showers. Day 2, a different story weather-wise. Rain a pesky visitor and heavy downpours at times. Mud not so glorious mud and big puddles of were being combatted by CarFest teams out and about adding bark chippings around the site to reduce some of the muddy areas. Lots of brollies and wet weather gear saved the day for many, while others in summer gear got wet.
The afternoon’s Supercars and Hypercars events were impacted by the wet weather, with the Hypercars aspect being cancelled, mainly due to the weather, but also after one of the Supercars slid off the track which ended their parade. early.
But us Brits never let a bit of soggy weather dampen our spirits to coin a well-worn phrase, so it was just about business as usual for those seeking live music delights. On the main stage. CarFest boss Chris Evans Popped up after the house DJ James Carpenter played a couple of tracks and Mr Motivator had done his thing, aka 73-year-old Derrick Evans MBE.
Chris brought on Sir Mo Farah, who said it was epic to see so many people enjoying the festival with their families despite the rain. They were joined on stage by guys from the Chinese car manufacturer Chery. Mo stars in their TV adverts. They presented a cheque for £25,000 [and £10!] they had raised for CarFest’s charities.
Chris tells the crowd he has checked the ‘Raindar’ and there will be no more rain for today. Er, wrong Chris, very wrong!
Best sets of the day for me, James Morrison and the one from Rick Parfitt Jr. James fist pumping the air as he came on stage, before he and the band tore into the song. James on his acoustic guitar, grinning broadly. What a voice. Stunning set and special artist. Crowd loved him.
After James, Chris Evans presents ambassadors from some of the key charities that receive funding from CarFest. Each charity had a child ambassador that had been directly supported by the charity, to talk about their experiences. Chris encourages everyone to donate and to book their tickets for next year so they can continue to support these charities. He lets the crowd know they have already secured two “amazing headliners” for 2027 and are close to securing the third.
In Chris Evans’ introduction to Rick Parfitt Jr and his band, Chris reveals that Rick Jr, son of the late Status Quo legend Rick Parfitt, says this is the gig of his lifetime performing at Silverstone. Former racing river Rick bounds onto the stage calling out “Good evening Silverstone, are you ready to party?”.
The answer was a very loud yeeeeeaaaaahhhhh! They open with a cover of The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights”. A great energetic set during which Rick jumps into the “pit” to the barrier to sing to the fans up close. His dad would be proud, no doubt.
The guy in the high vis vest in out photos on stage with Chris, runs the Sporting Bears Motor Club, which has been at Carfest from the beginning.
On their first year they raised £5,000 and since then they’ve raised an overall total of £957,000, and are really hoping to push it over the £1m by the end of the weekend, so he was geeing up the crowd to book a track ride.
* Do check out our coverage of day 1..
Photos by Liam Battersby
[No pix of Sir Tom Jones or Sugababes as photographers were not allowed for their sets!]
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