20th Goodwood Festival

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is celebrating 20 years since the first event in 1993. Unbelievably, the target audience for the inaugural Festival was a mere 5,000, but to the utter amazement of Lord March and others involved, more than 25,000 people turned up. However, many of those who attended didn’t pay, much like those who hopped over fences and jumped ditches to see early Grand Prix races. These days the Goodwood Festival of Speed has become a global event attracting 185,000 visitors, and needs very little or no introduction no matter which continent you’re from.

At the recent media day Lord March commented on the success of the Festival, “We started off back in 1993 and it is amazing to think the Festival of Speed has been going longer than the motor racing circuit that my grandfather opened in 1948, which closed down in 1966. I looked at all the cars, the drivers, the bikes and the riders that have been here over the last 20 years and I realized that actually this little piece of ground here, this 200 acres in front of the house, has played host to more of the greatest drivers and cars in the world than anywhere else.”