Following the huge success of the inaugural event of its kind in the UK this year, the Lydden Legend Festival will return in July 2026.
Lydden Hill – the Home of Rallycross – followed in the footsteps of the Loheac Legend Festival that first ran in May 2023 to great success this summer.
Loheac in France will once again host the Legends event in May next year, and in a bi-annual collaboration between the English and French venues, it will be Lydden Hill that hosts the following instalment in July 2026.
The Lydden Legend Festival is focused entirely around celebrating the glory of period rallycross and rally machinery, developed from the Rallycross Legends Show concept created in France by long-time racer, Philippe Tollemer.
In July this summer, fans in the UK were dazzled by an incredible show of on-track demonstrations from the worlds of both rallycross and rallying, while static displays in the paddock only added to the event’s flavour. The target for 2026 is to build on what has been started, while continuing the strong bond between the Loheac and Lydden events, to grow the Lydden Legend Festival in all aspects.
Highlights of this year’s event included the Group B rallycross demonstration races, the first time such a spectacle had been witnessed in decades, with drivers like Francois Delecour in action in a Ford RS200. Meanwhile, 14-time European Rallycross Champion Kenneth Hansen drove the legendary Peugeot 306 Supercar he raced against in period as part of the 90s Supercar category, along with leading the lunchtime track parade with 1992 FIA European Rallycross Champion Will Gollop sitting alongside.
In the rally division, a wonderful and diverse range of rally machinery from all eras took part in the on-track rally stage sessions, with the Group B Audi quattros among the favourites with the fans trackside.
As in 2024, the 2026 event will also include autograph sessions and on-stage interviews throughout the weekend, Welcome Drinks to open proceedings on Friday evening, the Saturday evening Legends Gala and VIP hospitality throughout the Festival.
The exact date in July 2026 for the Lydden Legend Festival will be announced in due course, once the international motor sport and rallycross calendars have been revealed, to allow as many people to attend Lydden Hill as possible.
Hannah Bennett, Managing Director, Lydden Hill Race Circuit:
“We have had such positive feedback following our first running of Lydden Legend Festival that we are very excited to prepare to run the Festival again in 2026, while also supporting our friends at Loheac, led by Patrick Germain and his team, for the Loheac Legend Festival next year. We learnt a huge amount this summer and we are already putting those learnings into practice to make Lydden Legend Festival bigger and better for 2026. In the current motor sport climate, celebrating all that has been great about both rallycross and rallying through the discipline’s history has been so well received, and we’re delighted that Lydden Hill is such a part of the past, present and future of this sport. We know July 2026 feels like a long way ahead in some ways, but we are already planning for the event, and we will be making announcements throughout the whole of 2025 about what we have in store.”
