There will be no driveway hillclimbs, transcendent paddock walks or champagne toasts at the Goodwood estate this year, as the Festival of Speed and Goodwood Revival have both officially been cancelled. Earlier this year, the Festival was postponed until an unannounced future date. It comes as no surprise to learn that both British motoring events won’t take place at all this year.
The reason is the same as before, as the estate cites the coronavirus pandemic and safety concerns. Anybody who already purchased tickets for the 2020 events will see their purchases rollover to the events in 2021. If you’d rather have a refund, that can be requested, as well. The Duke hinted that there might be a “behind closed doors” broadcasted event held in the fall, but the event’s guests would be stuck watching it on a screen somewhere.
Unsurprisingly, the cancellation of any and all events at Goodwood has been financially damaging.
“Bringing people together to enjoy the things they love is fundamental to everything we do at Goodwood, so social distancing is having a catastrophic impact on all areas of our business. It is a worrying time, in the face of which we are doing what we can to salvage a future for our events,” a statement from the Duke reads. “We have, of course, placed the safety of our customers and staff above all else, but now we begin to face the implications of the ‘new normal’ as the government attempts to balance the demands of health and the economy.”
We don’t have a way to peek behind the curtain at the estate’s finances, but the property is utterly massive, and it’s typically getting tons of use.
“We count on our headline events to generate all of our operating profit, and their absence has left us with millions in overheads to pay and no income since March, placing not only future events but even the long-term survival of the estate under considerable strain,” the statement read.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Revival are two of our favorite motoring events of the year. In lieu of the events this year, go back and check out the sights and sounds from 2019’s Goodwood parties. We rode shotgun in a rally car at last year’s Festival, and saw an unfathomable number of cool machines at the Revival. It will be sorely missed this year.
