The inaugural Formula Ford Festival was held at Snetterton in 1972. The circuit hosted the event until 1975, after which it relocated to Brands Hatch, where it has remained. The move to Brands Hatch gave the Festival a permanent, prestigious home and helped establish it as the centrepiece of the British Formula Ford calendar.
From its first edition in 1972 through to 1992, the Festival was run exclusively for cars powered by the Ford Kent engine — the defining specification of early Formula Ford. During this period entries regularly ran to several hundred cars, with competitors from across Europe and beyond travelling to Brands Hatch to compete in knockout heats that determined the grid for a grand final.
The 1800cc Ford Zetec engine became the leading engine in British Formula Ford from 1993, and the Festival's premier class reflected that change. Zetec machinery remained in the championship class until 2006. A separate secondary competition for Kent-engined cars was established alongside the main event from 1993, preserving the older specification's presence at the Festival.
The 1600cc Ford Duratec engine took over as the premier class from 2006, offering better power characteristics and lighter weight than the Zetec. However, by this period the Festival was already experiencing a structural decline in entries. Grid sizes that had once reached several hundred cars contracted to the range of 40 to 50 in more recent editions. The Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone, run for the Kent specification, emerged as an alternative prestige event that attracted over 150 entries in 2006, including drivers from senior formulae; Josef Newgarden, who later became a two-time IndyCar Series champion, won the Kent class in 2008.
Support races from categories including Caterham, Club F3, and Historic Sports 2000 were incorporated into the Festival programme to sustain the event's atmosphere as the core Formula Ford entries shrank.
From 2015 the Festival became exclusively a Kent-engined event, effectively reverting to its pre-1993 format. The change was intended to restore a cleaner identity for the event and capitalise on sustained interest in the classic 1600cc specification. A third sub-event for Zetec cars had been added from 2009, running alongside the Kent and Duratec classes before the 2015 consolidation.
The Festival's format is built around a knockout structure. Competitors progress through heats with results used to determine qualification for the main final, giving the event a tournament character that distinguishes it from a conventional championship round. The multi-class structure across different engine specifications allows drivers and cars of varying vintages to participate in the same event weekend while competing within their own categories.
At its peak the Formula Ford Festival functioned as one of the most important dates in the junior motorsport calendar — a genuine proving ground where promising drivers from different national championships could be compared directly. Fourteen Festival winners have subsequently raced in Formula One, a figure that underscores the event's historical role as a talent funnel.
The Festival's decline reflects wider structural changes in junior motorsport. The growth of FIA-backed Formula 4, the consolidation of karting as a pre-car proving ground, and the proliferation of other junior series have reduced the cultural weight of Formula Ford as a first step into professional racing. The event continues to occupy a respected place in British club racing, particularly among enthusiasts of the Kent specification, but no longer commands the entry numbers or professional attention it attracted in its heyday.