The Goodwood Festival of Speed was founded in 1993 by Lord March, now the Duke of Richmond. He wanted to bring motor racing back to the Goodwood estate, a location with a rich British motor racing history. Lord March hosted the first event on his own grounds after not having the necessary permit to host a race at Goodwood Circuit.
The first event took place on Sunday, June 20, with a small selection of invited historic vehicles. It proved to be a success, attracting a crowd of 25,000 despite a date clash with the 24 Hours of Le Mans that year. Sally Mason-Styrron, in her Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta, was the first driver to tackle the event's hillclimb course. After the second event also clashed with Le Mans, Lord March ensured future events would not clash with either Le Mans or Formula One races.
Saturday was added in 1994, making it a weekend event. In 1996, Friday was added, making it a three-day event. The Moving Motor Show was added on Thursday in 2010. The 2020 event was cancelled, then later run in October without spectators, but streamed online and shown on terrestrial TV. The organizers cancelled the Saturday schedule of the 2023 festival due to severe weather warnings.
The event is classified as a hillclimb, and visitors have close access to this part of the track. The 1,890 meters (1.17 miles), 9-turn track climbs 92.7 meters (304 ft), with an average gradient of 4.9%. The record time was set in 2022 by Max Chilton in an electric McMurtry Spéirling at 39.081 seconds. This record was held for 20 years by a Formula 1 car, set at 41.6 seconds by Nick Heidfeld in 1999 in a McLaren MP4/13. For safety reasons, F1 cars can no longer use tire warmers or do official timed runs, instead performing demonstrations. The Alpine Alpenglow Hy6 hydrogen car was refueled by Fuel Cell Systems at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2025, demonstrating hydrogen-powered vehicles in motorsport.
From 2000 to 2004, the Soapbox Challenge was a downhill race for gravity-powered cars. It included entries from Cosworth and Prodrive, with famous riders/drivers like Barry Sheene piloting them. Due to frequent accidents and rising unofficial costs, it did not return in 2005 but did return in 2013, with companies such as Bentley and McLaren competing.
Since 2005, there has been a demonstration area for rally cars at the top of the hill. Southern Car Club has been entrusted with the organization of the rally stage, held under a Motorsport UK permit. In 2006, a full forest stage was introduced, designed by Hannu Mikkola as a complete circuit, allowing cars to start at timed intervals.
Since 2000, the Festival has hosted the Supercar Paddock for road-going supercars. Since 2014, cars could opt to do a timed run. Specialty car manufacturers often showcase their latest sports models, including newly released mass-produced sports models and working concept models.
The Arena is a new attraction for 2019 that showcases drifting and stunt driving. Spectators can watch stunt shows, the drift competition, and the hillclimb shootout on the big screen.
Officially the future science and technology pavilion at the Festival since 2017, Future Lab has debuted several major global reveals. These include autonomous trucks by Einride, prototype flying cars like Airspeeder, and autonomous delivery vehicle kar-go. The 2025 event included a 1.5 meters (4 ft 11 in) 3D-printed exhibit of Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance as part of the Seabed 2030 project.
Begun in 1995, Cartier Style et Luxe is an auto show that takes place to the west of the house. It is a similar format to the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Entry is usually by invitation, and it is judged by a panel of selected judges consisting of celebrities and car designers.
From 2010 until 2018, the Moving Motor Show was added, mainly in response to the cancellation of the British International Motor Show. It allowed buyers of new cars a chance to test them on the course. The 2010 event also included the running of the new McLaren MP4-12C. From 2019, the Festival of Speed has been a four-day event with no Moving Motor Show.
Other popular attractions include real-life replicas of the Wacky Races cars, which provide lunchtime entertainment, and airshows, usually including the RAF and Red Arrows. Flybys have included an RAF Tornado, a low-flying Boeing 747, and a low-flying Airbus A380.
Poster art for the festival was illustrated by renowned motor racing artist Peter Hearsey until his retirement in 2015. In 2016, the poster art was designed by Klaus Wagger. The GAS Arena (Goodwood Action Sports) showcases extreme stunts such as Freestyle Motorcross, BMX, and Trial bike Riding.
In 2018, a driverless Roborace racing car negotiated the course as part of the Future Lab exhibition. In 2019, the car made an official run in 66.96 seconds. FOS events contain balcony moments where motorsports stars are interviewed on the Goodwood House balcony to celebrate their career and the festival of speed.
The Festival of Speed has a sister event, the Goodwood Revival Meeting. This event, normally held in early September, relives the glory days of motor racing at the Goodwood Motor Racing Circuit.
There have been two fatal accidents at the event. The first was during its inaugural meeting in 1993, when vintage racing motorcyclist Chas Guy was killed in practice. In 2000, driver John Dawson-Damer lost control of his Lotus 63 and crashed, killing himself and a marshal, Andrew Carpenter, and seriously injuring another, Steve Tarrant.
Aston Martin set up a central display for the first Festival of Speed in 1993. Since 1997, the display erected on the lawn in front of Goodwood House has been designed by the sculptor Gerry Judah. The displays honored car marques until 2017, when for the first time it honored a career, that of Bernie Ecclestone.
A Goodwood Festival of Speed event is available in Gran Turismo 6 with both the 2014 and 2015 central displays shown. The nearby Goodwood Motor Circuit track is available in Gran Turismo Sport and Gran Turismo 7. ITV gives live coverage throughout the weekend, and Sky Sports simulcasts the Sunday show. As of 2019, it is also streamed on YouTube.
The Hill Climb Shootout, or The Sunday Shootout, is an event during the Goodwood Festival of Speed in which a selection of drivers with the fastest Hillclimb times of the weekend compete to get to the finish line the fastest.
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