Researched and written 17 October 2026. Sources are listed at the end.
A festival for the Motor City
Visit Coventry tells the city's motoring story in three steps. In the late nineteenth century, as silk weaving and watchmaking declined, the city's skilled workers turned to bicycles. By the 1890s Coventry was the bicycle capital of the world. Firms such as Daimler then put engines into the frames. Between the early 1900s and the 1930s more than 50 vehicle makers set up in the city, Jaguar, Triumph, Rover, Armstrong Siddeley and Humber among them.
MotoFest was created to celebrate that history in the streets where it happened. Its own pages describe weekends of free family fun in the UK's Motor City, run by a core team who give their time unpaid out of love for motors, people and Coventry.
MotoFest Classic, June 2026
In 2026 the organisers ran a smaller, heritage-led spin-off called MotoFest Classic over Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 June. The Cathedral Ruins hosted the official celebrations for the 40th birthday of the Jaguar XJ40, the saloon that Visit Coventry credits with saving Jaguar in the 1980s.
A motorcycle ride-in opened the weekend, bringing hundreds of riders into the centre together. Under the Gosford Street section of the ring road an arena staged the Autotest Championship, where classic cars showed they can still move with real agility. The rest of the centre became a gallery of parked classics of every shape and size.
Back to full scale in September 2027
MotoFest returns at full scale on 4 and 5 September 2027 with an international format. Racing on the ring road is being rebooted with two new arenas around Junction 6 and Greyfriars Green, hosting innovation shows, demonstrations from every level of motorsport and Formula G Autogymkhana, which the organisers call the UK's hottest race series. They say they are working with the FIA to bring international motorsport to the city.
Grove Street Car Park, under the ring road, becomes a third arena for a round of the UK Autotest and Autosolo championships. An Innovation Zone will show advances in sustainable transport, while classic displays trace 150 years of Coventry transport from the first bicycles to the latest electric cars. The award-winning Coventry Concours takes place in the medieval cathedral ruins, where a panel of celebrity judges picks the best-presented vehicles.
Music, food and tickets
A new partnership with the events organiser Xtra Humongous is expanding the music programme and street food, with new venues built for the festival. MotoFest says it will stay free for all, with some new paid experiences sold on a ticketed basis.
Coventry City Council supports the event. Its cabinet member for community safety and cohesion, Councillor John McNicholas, called it a brilliant showcase for the city's place in motoring history. Between festivals, Club MotoFest runs BreakFest meets and other events through the year.
Booking a festival weekend
With arenas on and under the ring road, expect a busy centre across the festival weekend. The city centre is about 2 miles by road from the nearest of our homes, the cathedral ruins about 2 miles and the Transport Museum about 2 miles.
Car clubs and teams travelling together can book Stoke Lodge and Stoke House as one stay for up to 18 people, with free parking on the street outside both.
Sources: coventrymotofest.com; coventrymotofest.com/back-on-track-motofest-returns-at-full-scale-in-september-2027; visitcoventry.co.uk/blog/post/why-coventry-is-still-the-worlds-motor-city. Distances by road from each house, worked out on OpenStreetMap.
