Hagerty will be celebrating its tenth year of the Festival of the Unexceptional on 27 July 2024, honouring the unsung heroes of the classic car world with a Concours de l’Ordinaire selection of the UK’s finest base-model cars. Once again located at Grimsthorpe Castle in the Lincolnshire countryside, thousands of ‘mundane’ cars are expected to make their way to the event.
Launched in 2014, the Festival of the Unexceptional was an attempt to celebrate some of the rarest and most culturally significant cars of the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, in a setting more akin to a top-level concours. The event has grown in popularity each year, and for the tenth anniversary it’s expected to be better than ever.
New for 2024 is an earlier opening time with gates opening at 7.30 am, and the first 50 arrivals will receive a special Festival Birthday surprise.
This year’s event will be running longer hours than ever before, with the gates opening at 7.30am. As well as opening earlier, there’s a packed schedule for 2024, with various people heading to the stage for talks and activities – including a live recording of the Smith and Sniff Podcast at 12pm. Paul Cowland hosts a Completely Unexceptional Pub Quiz at 4pm, with various prizes. In previous years, the show closed at 5.30pm, but for 2024 this is when The Disco of the Unexceptional kicks off, with the official close now taking place at 7pm.
See the full timetable below.
The last few tickets for the event are still available here.
Timetable for the day
7:30am Gates Open
8am: FOTU Birthday Surprise
9am: Stage Opens – Wayne Scott welcomes you to the 2024 Festival of the Unexceptional
10am: Smith and Sniff Present: Wheeltrim of Misfortune
11am: Smith and Sniff open the Superchod Swap Shop
11:30am: FOTU Flashback with Jeff Ruggles, Chris Pollitt and Wayne Scott
12pm: Smith and Sniff, Podcast LIVE
1pm: Superchod Swap Shop Update!
1:15pm: Live Music, courtesy of RIOT
2pm: Smith and Sniff Present: Wheeltrim of Misfortune 2
3pm: Superchod Swap Shop Update!
3:15pm: Live Music, courtesy of RIOT
4:00pm: Paul Cowland’s Completely Unexceptional Pub Quiz
5:00pm: 2024 Festival of the Unexceptional Awards
5:30pm: FOTU Photos – A chance to snap your car in front of the iconic Vanbrugh Hall
5:30pm: The Disco of the Unexceptional
7:00pm: Close of Show
