MotoFest, in partnership with E.ON Drive, will return in June 2023 following the postponement of this year’s festival. 

Organisers of MotoFest will make the formal announcement of the 2023 dates – Saturday 3 June and Sunday 4 June – at 11am on Saturday 22 October at the latest Club MotoFest BreakFest Meet at Millennium Place, outside the Coventry Transport Museum.

James Noble, MotoFest Coventry Festival Director, will be joined at the BreakfFest Meet by Deputy Lord Mayor of Coventry, Councillor Jaswant Singh. A selection of Club MotoFest member vehicles, representing MotoFest’s past, present and future theme, will also be parked at the BreakFest Meet event on static display. 

The new 2023 dates announcement come after MotoFest 2022 was postponed in September following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and the subsequent official protocols implemented in line with the passing of the monarch.

James Noble, MotoFest Coventry Festival Director, said: “We are delighted, and somewhat relieved, to be at the point where we are able to announce the dates of Saturday June 3 and Sunday June 4 for MotoFest 2023. 

“The road to this announcement has in recent weeks been paved with numerous challenges, obstacles and difficulties. Following on from the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and the subsequent period of national mourning during which MotoFest and the nation paid our respects to the Monarch, we were unable to stage the event beyond September 10 and 11 in 2022 due to various complicating factors.

“The legally required six-month application period for our motorsport licence and the        co-ordination of all the calendars of the different motorsport and disciplines featured at MotoFest are just a snapshot of the issues we had to contend with. Further legal measures to be applied in order to secure the road closures for MotoFest, and the time frames for these measures to be implemented, would have taken us way beyond September. 

“The next available opportunity to stage any form of event in 2022 would have been in the winter months, where the strong possibility of adverse weather conditions, would not have been conducive to safe, dynamic MotoFest event activities. We have also been awaiting confirmation of the date for the King’s Coronation, as it was important that a new MotoFest weekend did not clash with celebrations for this nationally significant celebration.  

“With all these factors to consider, we hope that all our supporters, stakeholders and fans of MotoFest understand and appreciate why the festival could not be staged this year. 

“Moving forward, we now have a firm and fixed date in the 2023 event calendar. With a return to the first weekend in June, when we can look forward to celebrating Coventry’s motoring heritage with one of the most electrifying event spectacles of the year.”

Councillor Abdul Salam Khan, Cabinet Member for Events, at Coventry City Council added: “I’m delighted to hear that MotoFest will be returning to Coventry in 2023 after its recent postponement due to the sad passing of Her Majesty The Queen. I know it is a highlight of the city’s annual events calendar that attracts both local residents and visitors from further afield. 

“I’m also pleased to see that the city’s Cycle Fest event will form part of the overall offering over the weekend. The whole event truly captures the city’s rich automotive history and celebrates its future innovation. It really is a fantastic, unique event that is not to be missed.”

As was planned for MotoFest 2022, the free CycleFest event will be integrated into MotoFest 2023 festival weekend. The CycleFest event will feature various cycling activities, including the opportunity to enjoy an exciting new twilight ride experience on the unique city centre MotoFest circuit, following the completion of the day’s motorsport programme. 

MotoFest 2023 will see the return of the unique Sprint Circuit, carved out of the City Centre Ring Road, and two new performance motorsport and drift arenas, due to have been launched at the 2022 festival. 

With new dates in June now agreed, organisers will be using the time in between to develop a dynamic content programme across the festival weekend. It will feature many of the innovative new attractions and displays set to have been debuted at the 2022 event, alongside further new exciting additions that will be unveiled in the coming months.

As for the 2022 festival, the 2023 event will have a significant future technology focus, with a showcase of the latest alternatively fuelled vehicles, electric cars and advanced automotive technology.

A new future technology zone, based in the main Greyfriars Green festival site, will see exhibitors committed to showcasing the latest electric vehicles and motorcycles. Many of those two and four wheeled exhibits will also take part in dynamic displays on the main sprint circuit and the motorsport and drift arenas. 

As part of MotoFest Coventry 2023’s ‘past, present and future’ theme, there will be the traditional classic car and modern modified static car displays across the city centre.  

Motofest 2023 will continue to be supported by sponsors E.ON Drive, which provides an end to end electric vehicle charging service for customers. It is part of leading energy and solutions provider E.ON which has its UK headquarters in Coventry. E.ON Drive is lead brand partner for MotoFest Coventry, with a series of initiatives, promotions, competitions and events launching on the run up to and taking place across the festival weekend on Saturday 3rd June and Sunday 4th June 2023.

E.ON Drive provides electric vehicle charging solutions to customers at home, at work and on the go. This includes supplying and installing a range of EV chargers, all of which can be accessed via mobile app, RFID card or on a pay-as-you go basis.

E.ON Drive is the lead brand partner for MotoFest 2023, and will offer a series of promotions and events in the run up to June, as well as during the festival itself. E.ON Drive provides an end-to-end electric vehicle charging service for customers. It is part of energy supply and solutions provider E.ON, which has its UK headquarters in Coventry. 

Chris Lovatt, E.ON’s Chief Operating Officer, UK Solutions, said: “We’re pleased to be a part of the plans for MotoFest 2023. Coventry is home to our head office in the UK, and to many of our customers and colleagues. We want to play our part in helping cities including Coventry transform themselves, with energy efficient decarbonised homes and clean air in their streets.

The time to act is now, and the shift to electric vehicles is part of the adjustment needed to combat climate change and help us meet our environmental targets. Cleaner motoring is key to the nation’s drive to zero carbon by 2050 and through MotoFest we hope to raise interest in the idea of electric vehicles.”

MotoFest Coventry is a two-day festival dedicated to the city of Coventry’s motoring heritage, taking place on Saturday 3 June and Sunday 4 June, 2023. It will feature a unique blend of racing demonstrations, static displays, live music and anything else with a connection to Coventry, transport and the city’s motoring heritage.

James Noble, Festival Director, said: “Against the current backdrop of extraordinary events, the MotoFest Coventry board has been constantly evaluating the viability of this year’s festival.

Following recent Government advice on mass gatherings and large-scale public events during the Coronavirus crisis, we have taken the sensible and appropriate decision to suspend MotoFest Coventry for this year.

Please be assured, the weight of consideration, both practical and moral, has been substantial and we do not arrive at this decision lightly.

MotoFest Coventry has grown substantially in recent years, with 2019’s attendance of 229,232 helping to firmly establish its place in the UK’s top ten most attended events.

As a result, MotoFest Coventry makes a huge economic and cultural contribution to the city of Coventry, another factor that has made our decision a difficult one to reach. 

However, in the current climate the health and safety of those attending and those who work on and support a large-scale event such as MotoFest Coventry is paramount, so this is the responsible course of action to take.

MotoFest Coventry 2020 was intended to be our largest event to date. An evening track programme, demonstrations of wheel to wheel motorsport, a new drift car arena, Concourse D’Elegance show and a new Festival of British Engineering, set to be among the highlights of the festival.

We were also due to stage a hugely expanded music offering, which included a new dance music event featuring globally renowned DJs, artists and dance acts.

These new elements and much more will return next year as part of our exciting line-up. We now intend to regroup and turn our attention to 2021 – Coventry UK City of Culture year – on 4, 5 and 6 June with an event bigger and better than ever before. 

Until then, please take care of yourself and those around you.”

For any media enquiries, interview or photo requests please contact Mark McLachlan on 07831 308133, or e-mail mark.mclachlan@waachosen.co.uk