Racing for a Cause - The Village Fete 2025
Rightfully dubbed as the “industry’s hottest ticket event of the year”, The Village Fete 2025 did not disappoint! In the 30 degree peak of the latest UK heatwave, Team Leisuretec headed to the Daytona race circuit at Sandown Park for the annual Village Fete last Thursday – a fantastic day of fun, fundraising and fast laps in support of Backup Tech.
Renamed for this year in celebration of Adam Taylor, aka Adam Fabulous, DJ and long-time supporter of the event, The Fabulous Village Fete is organised by the all-voluntary Backup Tech team, and is an event that raises vital funds for Backup Tech, the charity that provides financial and wellbeing support to technical entertainment industry professionals in live events, AV and touring, when they’re facing difficult times.
Practice Laps
The day kicked off with check-in and practice laps from 9:00 to 10:30am, giving teams a chance to warm up and settle in. We also set up our gazebo and interactive fete game: Blazepod “Racer Reactions”, where visitors had just 15 seconds to tap 30 light pods – a test of speed, focus and bragging rights!
At 11:00am, the event was officially opened by Lee Dennison from Backup Tech, who talked through the day’s activities and highlighted the brilliant raffle and silent auction prizes on offer. Which lucky raffle part-taker would win our DJ bundle consisting of an DDJ-FLX2 controller, DM-40D monitors and HDJ-CX headphones? From midday, attendees could explore a vibrant village fete full of food vans, stalls, games and DJ sets, the perfect prelude to the day’s competitive action.
Accolades were later awarded for the Best Activity or Game, Best Dressed Stall, Best Bake Off, Best Veg Off, and Best Dressed Fete’r. Sadly, we didn’t win any of these... But if there was an award for most sunburnt, then we might’ve stood a chance!
Flightcase Relay Race
Before the main race, our James took part in the ever-entertaining Flightcase Relay Race - an eight-person challenge where teams pushed a flightcase around the karting track. The twist? Each runner had to alternate between pushing forwards and backwards, with a spin of the case between each leg. We were thrilled to win a golden rosette from this challenge, which came in handy later…
Lights Out and Away We Go!
At 1:00pm, the main event began: a three-hour endurance go-kart race with 34 teams and six drivers per team. Each team had to make at least five driver changes, and golden rosettes could be used tactically to add two laps to your team’s total, or subtracting two from another. Thanks to our flightcase relay win, we started with a little bonus, and after three hours of racing, we crossed the finish line in a respectable 17th place!
As the race ended at 4:00pm, the celebrations continued with live entertainment and singers until 5:00pm, when the awards ceremony brought the day to a close.
Congratulations to TAIT who were the deserved winners of the race, winning the infamous Simpson Flyer Trophy - an award constructed and generously donated from within the industry, and passed onto the winning race team every year.
Kartfest is always a highlight of the summer events calendar, bringing together industry friends for a brilliant cause. A huge thanks to the organisers, everyone who took part, and those who popped by our stand to test their reflexes. We’re very proud to support Backup and be part of such a meaningful and memorable day.
Learn more about Backup Tech here and how you can get involved.
