Donington Historic Festival 1-2 May - CANCELLED

[rbgosling]

OK, I'm booked for Saturday, see you guys there!

[richardw]

Also booked for the weekend - look forward to seeing everybody!

Richard

[carlp]

Hi,
Just missed the early booking discount but tempted to go on the Saturday with the Excel. Went two years ago on the Friday, very wet but a great day out even though there were only a few cars there. I was even lucky enough to meet the 'great man' Oliver Winterbottom himself!!
Carl

[Hawaiis0]

Club early booking goes past punter bookings times iirc

[richardw]

IMPORTANT

Due to new Government restrictions, the event will now only be open to essential personnel, meaning that car clubs and spectators will not be admitted.

Here is the message I received today from Karen Coe, the organiser, which explains everything:

Dear Car Club Organisers

I am immensely disappointed and very sorry to have to let you know that new guidance was issued by government yesterday- Tuesday 6 April - which contradicts the previous position that spectators would be permitted at non-elite sport events from Step Two of the roadmap (12 April onwards). As a result of yesterday's announcement, the 2021 Donington Historic Festival can now only be run behind closed doors, with only essential personnel attending.

Whilst outdoor attractions like zoos and theme parks can reopen, and events such as boot fairs, steam rallies and food festivals can take place with up to 4,000 visitors per day, a specific ban has now been applied to spectators at sport events until 17 May. This means that all events due to take place between 12 April and 17 May will have to be run behind closed doors.

I know exactly how hard some of you have worked to promote the event to your members, and how disappointed you will all be that DHF is not permitted to welcome spectators this year.

Those of you and your members who have already booked will, along with all other affected customers, be contacted by email by Donington Park's operators, MSV, with options on how to manage your booking - including obtaining refunds. Please note, while I'm always happy to help where I can, I don't handle ticketing at all, and it's not handled from the DHF office, so ticketholders should wait to hear from MSV. You can read more about this here: http://news.msv.com/statement-5-march.aspx

Once again, I am so very sorry and disappointed to have to give you this news. I can only hope that we can see each other again next year.

With best wishes

[rbgosling]

[MetBlue]

Shame. Was looking forwards to that.
Does give me a bit longer to rebuild the car interior before Castle Coombe though. 1st May was arriving very fast and only one seat in the car currently.

Tony

[richardw]

I think we should spare a thought for the venues and organisers of the events being nonsensically restricted in this way. The sudden reversal in guidance means the strenuous efforts made by venues and organisers, together with the investments they have made, have been a waste. I don’t see how an event such as the Donington Historic can be at all profitable without spectators and the commercial spin-offs therefrom. This sudden decision puts at further risk the future survival of these operations and the events they run.

I do feel that we have all been patient for a very long time, had our vaccinations whether or not we feel we need them, and have seen case numbers and Covid linked fatalities drop to a very low level, only to have this thrown back in our face without much in the way of justification or evidence. To add insult to injury, the Minister responsible, Nigel Huddleston, is my MP, and I will be writing to him.

I hope that the organisers feel able to hold the event next year, and will write to them to express our thanks and offer whatever support I can.

Sorry if it’s a bit of a rant but that’s me sometimes!

Richard

[rbgosling]

No apologies required, I agree entirely! I suspect when the govt. thinks of "sporting event" they are picturing people crowding into stands at a stadium, and not considering that events like Donington (and other sports like rowing, one of my other obsessions) can be had with spectators very well spread out.

[rbgosling]

Only silver lining is that I now don't need to wait until after DHF to get my respray done...