The Goodwood Festival of Speed, widely considered as the UK's leading automotive event, won't take place in 2020, due to the social-distancing requirements currently in place.
The event was scheduled to run at the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex from 9-12 July, before being pushed back to an unconfirmed later date as the UK entered a state of lockdown in late March. Organisers have now stated that the Festival of Speed won't go ahead at all in 2020, nor will the annual Goodwood Revival classic car event.
Tickets for the 2020 events remain valid for the 2021 editions, but customers are also eligible for refunds, which they can choose to pledge to the newly relaunched Goodwood Supporters' Association, which has been formed in an effort to recoup some of the lost revenue from this year's cancelled events.
The Goodwood Estate said the lockdown has had a "catastrophic impact" on its ability to operate, and that it is "doing what we can to salvage a future for our events".
The organisation added: "We rely on our headline events to generate all of our operating profit, their absence places not only future events but even the long-term future of the estate under considerable strain. It is our hope that, with the renewal of the Goodwood Supporters’ Association (GSA), our members and the wider motorsport community will stand beside us as we weather this storm and preserve motorsport at Goodwood."
Donors will be recognised with souvenirs including engraved nameplates at the Goodwood Estate, a tree planted in their name in a new woodland area at the Goodwood Circuit and a GSA-branded badge.
The Duke of Richmond, owner of the Goodwood Estate, said: “For a business like ours, which is all about bringing people together to enjoy the things they love, social distancing has had an unavoidable impact on our ability to operate. The Festival of Speed and Revival events will return in 2021 and, in the meantime, we're delighted to give our incredibly loyal members and dedicated followers a unique opportunity to increase their connection to Goodwood by becoming part of our new Goodwood Supporters Association initiative.”
“In addition, we're still hoping that we may be able to keep the flame alive with a ‘behind closed doors’ motorsport occasion later this year for motorsport fans and enthusiasts worldwide to enjoy at home and look forward to making an announcement in the coming weeks.”
The Festival of Speed is the latest in a slew of delayed or cancelled automotive events. Following the last-minute cancellation of the Geneva motor show in March, the New York and Beijing motor shows, both scheduled for April, were delayed. As it stands, the Los Angeles motor show is still on track to take place in late November.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed has grown in popularity in recent years, thanks to the absence of a successful British motor show, the appeal of dynamic vehicle appearances on the famous circuit and a very British garden party atmosphere that's starkly different to typical exhibition-hall shows.
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Good idea?
Any event would be virtually impossible to have just now, I mean, how do you control thousands of people with social distancing being vital?, would it hurt to delay it a few months?, my daughter's had to be rescheduled to October from April previously, it still might not happen, but it'll happen sometime, so , why the tears and grinding of Teeth?
Difficult to see...
...how it can be rearranged given the desire for massive corporate sponsorship and the presence of modern F1 teams at FoS. I wouldn't miss either by their absence, but I realise the former is probably needed to keep the event viable, and the latter desired by many of the attendees. There's also the issue of fitting in the Members' Meeting, not to mention other very minor events like the Breakfast Club. Should the 'international lockdown' be lifted soon, by which I mean in3 - 4 months, we're likely to see a very packed motorsport calendar in the latter half of 2020. I get the impression no series/event organiser wants to blink first. Indeed the MM was cancelled quite late in the day when Goodwood's hand was forced by the government, probably so they could legitemately claim on their event insurance policy and not lose out.
Goodwood Festival of Speed Postponement
That's all very well putting back the event until later in the year. But I hope that the lodgings that I booked at the time for the original Goodward dates are as generous, as well as my employer with me trying to rearrange for a later request for holiday dates. Especially if I'll be in competition with parents wanting to take their family away and peak season at my workplace.