Harvest Festival this weekend
HARVEST FESTIVAL
12/13 September 2026
With the hill climb season drawing to a close, a festival atmosphere is expected at Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb in Worcestershire this coming weekend (12/13 Sep) for its last competitive event of the year, when drivers will benefit from months of competition for an opportunity to produce their final best efforts in close competition.
Hosts, Midland Automobile Club, has named the two one-day events a Harvest Festival which will see a capacity and hugely varied entry of classic, saloon, sports and racing cars taking part, together with a sole Tesla electric car, bringing things bang up to date.
THE WEEKEND LINE-UP
Over 22 sports and racing cars, covering several decades, will be competing in the very popular Paul Matty Lotus Championship, which features a bespoke point scoring system to ensure fairness for all makes and performance of Lotus cars.
Saturday’s event will also welcome guest drivers in the Seven Speed Series, featuring Caterham and Westfield sports cars, alongside ten examples of Cooper style cars in the 500 Owner’s Association Speed Championship. The National Historic Speed Championship brings Mini Cooper, Sunbeam Imp, Lotus and Alfa Romeo models.
PORSCHE THROUGH THE AGES
Ten examples of the marque, including 911, 944, Cayman and Boxster models, are competing in the Porsche Club Speed Class on both days and they could be given a bench mark time to aim for by seasoned national campaigner Robert Lancaster-Gay in his Porsche 911 GT3, taking part in the earlier member’s class section.
Former British champion and local man Trevor Willis, is having a guest drive in the new AFS P8T single seater, the second top specification racing car designed and constructed locally by Alex Summers and his family at Tenbury Wells, so he should be one to watch for the Best Time of Day award.
Adding a splash of colour, mainly Red, will be a dozen drivers in the Ferrari Hill Climb Championship, with regular character David Snelson always pleasing the crowds with the driving style of his Ferrari 488 Spider, and with several of the latest models taking part, the long-standing class record of 32.83 could be up for grabs.
The road-going sections have a large entry with Renault Clio, Lotus Elise, Abarth 595, Honda Civic, Mini Cooper and Fiat Panda examples in the Series Production up-to 2000cc Class, while the Over 2000cc Classes will see a Ford Fiesta ST180, Alfa Romeo GT, Mazda MX5, Subaru Impreza, Audi S1 and BMW M3 competing.
And don’t forget... The large public car park at Shelsley Walsh is always worth a stroll just to view the amazing collection of cars of guest club members and visitors.
GATES OPEN AT 8AM. FIRST CAR RUNS AT 9AM.
The Courtyard bar and restaurant offers a welcoming spot to relax and recharge, whether before or after your climb up the hill.
For something quick and hearty, the Pits in the paddock and Full Monty at Bottom Esse will be serving Hot & Cold Drinks, breakfasts, pasties, sausage rolls, loaded chips & burgers.
Gates open at 8am with first car up at 9am.
MAC Members Free.
Visitors from £15 per day.
Under 16s FREE
Please note Worcester has its City Run on Sunday, and road closures will be in place from 8 am until 12.30 pm.
Photos from: Steve Shelley, Dom Dabek, Rob MacDonald and Tom Gay
