There really is nothing else quite like it.
Hagerty’s Festival of the Unexceptional returns to Grimsthorpe Castle in Lincolnshire on Saturday 25th July 2026, once again celebrating the ordinary family cars, company motors and forgotten daily drivers that most people ignored for decades… until suddenly everyone started loving them again.
And for 2026, Jonny Smith and Richard Porter — better known as Smith and Sniff — are making a welcome return to the event’s main stage.
For many visitors, the Smith and Sniff live show has become just as much a part of the Festival of the Unexceptional experience as beige hatchbacks, faded dealer stickers and conversations about rusty wheelarches. Their previous appearances delivered exactly the sort of chaos you would expect, with conversations drifting between wheel trims, drag racing dogs, terrible old cars and the sort of motoring memories that instantly transport people back to childhood.
The pair will once again host live entertainment, games, audience interaction and a live podcast recording during the event, all included within the standard ticket price.
Now entering its 12th year, Festival of the Unexceptional has grown from a quirky idea into one of the most talked-about events on the British classic car calendar.
What started as an appreciation of ordinary old cars has become a genuine movement, attracting enthusiasts from across the UK and beyond.
And honestly, it is easy to understand why.
For years, cars like Austin Allegros, Datsun Cherry hatchbacks, base-model Cavaliers and forgotten Japanese saloons were simply disposable transport. Most disappeared quietly through scrappage schemes, banger racing or simple neglect. The survivors now trigger something far more powerful than traditional classic car nostalgia: recognition.
These were the cars people actually grew up with.
Festival of the Unexceptional embraces that brilliantly.
One minute you are looking at a mint-condition Austin Montego estate in a period colour nobody would dare order today, the next you are admiring a painfully ordinary Vauxhall Astra that somehow survived when almost every other one vanished years ago.
That is exactly what makes the event work so well.
Unlike many traditional classic shows, FOTU does not take itself too seriously. The atmosphere is relaxed, funny and genuinely welcoming, whether you arrive in concours condition machinery or something still wearing supermarket car park scars from the 1980s.
The setting helps, too. Grimsthorpe Castle provides an unexpectedly grand backdrop for cars that once spent most of their lives parked outside newsagents, schools and suburban semis.
Jonny Smith and Richard Porter have become a huge part of the event’s appeal in recent years, perfectly matching the slightly chaotic spirit of FOTU itself.
Their live podcast sessions regularly sell out elsewhere, but Festival of the Unexceptional visitors get the chance to see the duo performing live as part of the standard entry ticket.
Guests attending previous events will remember the wonderfully bizarre conversations that unfolded on stage, including debates involving bad wheel trims, drag racing dogs and questionable automotive decisions from Britain’s motoring past.
It is unscripted, unpredictable and exactly the sort of entertainment this event thrives on.
Perhaps the cleverest thing about Festival of the Unexceptional is that it celebrates the cars many people never imagined would survive long enough to become classics.
The sort of cars once abandoned behind garages, traded for pennies or driven into the ground now attract crowds of genuinely enthusiastic admirers.
And the truth is, many of them are far rarer than traditional classics.
A tidy Datsun Cherry, Austin Allegro or base-spec Cavalier can now generate more interest than exotic machinery simply because almost nobody saved them.
That changing attitude toward ordinary cars is a huge part of what has made FOTU such a success story.
There is also something refreshingly honest about the whole event.
Nobody pretends these cars were perfect. Many were slow, unreliable, cheaply built or hilariously outdated even when new. But they mattered because they were real cars driven by real people.
They carried families on holidays, sat outside schools, survived supermarket car parks and spent decades quietly fading from British roads.
Festival of the Unexceptional celebrates that everyday history better than almost any other motoring event in the country.
For 2026, Hagerty says the festival will be its biggest yet, with thousands of unexceptional-era cars expected to attend alongside trade stands, food, entertainment and live stage shows throughout the day.
Tickets are on sale now, priced from £25, while Hagerty Drivers Club members can attend at a discounted rate.
If you are interested in attending, it is worth booking early, as the event has grown enormously in popularity over recent years.
If you have never been before, it is difficult to explain just how enjoyable it is seeing cars that were once ignored suddenly treated like priceless concours classics.
But that strange mix of humour, nostalgia and genuine affection is exactly why Festival of the Unexceptional continues to grow every year.
And frankly, any event where an immaculate Datsun 100A can attract a crowd bigger than a supercar display is doing something very right.
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