Joondalup Festival of Motoring is back

The Joondalup Festival of Motoring is back for another year and the 2023 edition will transform the northern Perth suburb’s CBD into a mecca for all things motoring and motorsport over November 24-26.

Set to follow a similar format to last year’s inaugural event, the three-day automotive festival will culminate in the Joondalup City Sprint on November 26, when more than 150 competitors will navigate a challenging street circuit around the festivities.

The weekend will kick off on the Friday night with the Powerplay Go Kart Challenge and outdoor cinema session, before things ramp up on Saturday with the Bumpers and Beverages meet and Steel Bumper display in the afternoon.

Sunday will be the main day of fun when the sprint event gets underway, circumnavigating static displays, a pop-up bar, live music, food trucks and merchandise stalls.

More than 1000 vehicles were on display across the five regionally-themed automotive precincts last year, with event director Justin Hunt hoping to attract even more this year via a restructure that should see the cars all located more centrally.

“We’re thrilled to bring all of motoring culture’s fun, glamour and adrenaline back to the Joondalup CBD later this year, and would like to thank our competitors, officials and sponsors for being a valuable element in bringing this event to the community,” he said.

“The festival is fortunate to have attracted a suite of sponsors who support our vision to build the Tyrepower Joondalup Festival of Motoring into an iconic event on the Australian motoring calendar.”

Thousands of people made the trek up to Joondalup from Perth and beyond for last year’s event and organisers say they’ve taken onboard myriad lessons learnt from the inaugural edition.

“Last year’s festival was a big success, attracting thousands to our City Centre,” said Joondalup Mayor Albert Jacob.

“Earlier this year, our Council gave the festival the green light to go ahead in 2023.

“Justin Hunt and his team are building on last year’s experience so that this family-friendly motorsport extravaganza is even bigger and better.”

Last year’s sprint event was won by former West Coast Eagle Troy Wilson in his monstrous Mitsubishi Evo X – a car that has long-dominated the local rally sprint scene.

Entries for the sprint event are currently open to last year’s competitors and will open to the wider population on August 31. Head to the event website for entry forms and regulations.