Welcome to the very first Festival of Chichester, a month-long extravaganza of arts, crafts, music, spoken word and community events of quite staggering diversity.

The 2013 Festival of Speed theme will celebrate the best of the first 20 years of this, the world’s most popular motor sport and car culture event. Goodwood will focus on highlights from the Festival’s glittering history, featuring the biggest, best, fastest, loudest and most outrageous vehicles of all time.

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The Junior Festival of Speed 2012 was full of fun activities for children of all ages. The most popular attractions included, life-size characters from The Wacky Races, and some of the most famous cars from TV and film on display including Mr Bean, the Batmobile, Herbie, Knight Rider, General Lee, Starsky & Hutch and more.

The City of Chichester, shaped by its unique heritage, is made for exploring. Blending old and new, Chichester offers an enticing mix of designer label boutiques, high street shopping, renowned art galleries and stylish restaurants and contemporary cafes.

The Hillclimb is the Festival of Speed’s principal attraction. Taking place throughout the weekend, this challenging white-knuckled 1.16-mile course starts as a tree-lined run through the southern corner of the Goodwood Estate which then turns to sweep past the front of Goodwood House.

Travelling north of the City takes you to the rolling hills and chalk landscapes of the South Downs National Park, with its breathtaking views which stretch for miles. All waiting to be explored by foot or bike.

Situated at the top of the hillclimb, the challenging Forest Rally Stage was designed with the help of former World Rally Champion Hannu Mikkola, and each year hosts around 50 cars and top drivers from the history of rallying, including many of the current WRC teams and drivers.

Explore to the south of the City and discover the beautiful seascapes around Chichester Harbour and explore coastal and harbour villages such as Selsey and Bosham.

There are at least five Vehicle Display areas at the Festival of Speed where you can expect to see all manner of priceless speedy roadsters and mean and mad machines.

A new version of circus musical Barnum will play Chichester Festival Theatre's summer season between 15th July and 31st August. Why not make a weekend of your visit? Visit our accommodation and food and drink pages to really enhance your stay.

The Festival of Speed is the only event outside Formula 1 to attract significant attendance from the current F1 teams and drivers.