The Bedford Kite and Motoring Festival will take place on 24 and 25 June 2023.
Please contact events@bedford.gov.uk for further information or if you have any questions.
No – this event is free and open to all. Further details on how to register as a motoring exhibitor will be available in due course.
Event timings will be confirmed in due course.
Kite flyers may stop flying earlier than the festival closing time, subject to weather conditions.
If you are separated from your child or a vulnerable adult you are attending the event with, please report this immediately to the signposted Lost Children’s point where the event staff will assist.
We advise parents to make sure their children have their contact details, e.g. parent’s mobile number on a paper wristband.
There is no parking at the event site. Town centre car parks will be open throughout the day and many are now open 24 hours, but check before you travel.
Road closure alert - The Embankment road will be closed during the event from Shaftesbury Avenue to Bushmead Avenue.
Responsible dog owners are welcome with their dogs, however if your pet is upset by large crowds please leave them at home for their own wellbeing. As this is a summer event, the weather may also be too warm for animals and there are only a handful of shaded areas on the event site.
Yes – although please do not bring any glass bottles or packaging onto the event site. There will also be plenty of caterers and bars offering a wide range of tasty food, soft drinks and alcoholic drinks right across the festival site.
Please don’t forget to responsibly recycle and dispose of all waste in the bins supplied across the event site.
Yes. Bedford Borough Council asks that everyone attending the event helps us to protect the environment (and to keep our parks looking beautiful). We will be providing many bins across the site, there will be recycling bins for all recyclable waste (please do not put food in these) and general waste bins for all non-recyclable waste.
Yes – we will have standpipes at the event for you to fill your reusable water bottles.
Yes - The Embankment will only be closed between Shaftesbury Avenue and Bushmead Avenue (with both roads remaining open). Diversion routes are available via Castle Road to access all residential and commercial properties in the area.
No, the main arena is for the invited kite flyers only. Most of their kites are rare and valuable, and if you have been to the event before you will know that if there is too little wind, the flyers will struggle to get their kites in the air, so they need all the space available to launch their displays into the sky.
Further information on how to apply for trading and charity space will be available shortly.
If you have a classic or interesting vehicle that you would like to exhibit at the Bedford Festival of Motoring, you will need to register as an exhibitor ahead of the event. Further details on how to do this will be made available shortly.