Features
Back to Library >
A birthday party like no other
4 months ago
Blue Tit has played a pivotal role in Tati’s success
Nonetheless, here we are, seven weeks out from ‘Blue Tit’s 40th Birthday Party Festival’, the nuttiest, silliest festival imaginable, and I don’t limit my comments merely for those involving aged Land Rovers.
And if you’re asking ‘why now?’ Why not wait a decade until she reaches her half century, you are perhaps not as hardwired into the old car world as some Ti contributors. Because when cars reach the venerable age of 40, the government classifies them as ‘historic’ and because the old car industry is quite large and needs supporting, it removes not only the requirement for an annual MOT, but also that you fork out many hundreds of hard earned in road tax. What you’re left with is a car for which bits are cheap and plentiful, classic car insurance is very affordable and tax-free too. Owning a quite simple old car you can work on yourself is actually terrific value if you enjoy getting grease under your fingernails, which I do.
Even so, the aim has always been not only to celebrate my beloved Land Rover becoming a classic, but also to create a totally new car event for the most diehard of petrolheads. I have struggled to find anything similar catering to the Land Rover admirers, weekend drivers, the car curios, outdoor lovers and fun seekers, despite knowing how many people there are in all these categories. I want to create a place where knowledge of pop rivets in a Series 1’s door isn’t a superiority tool, or a device for separating them and us, but somewhere that celebrates interest, enthusiasm and a healthy splattering of giggles.
"Picture this: a festival meets village fête, set in the grounds of Eastnor Castle’s Deer Park on 16 May this year"
I want to create a space where everyone can bask in the glory and symbolism of all that these magnificent Land Rovers represent, and have a beer while doing it. The word ‘community’ gets thrown around so much online, it’s almost lost its meaning, but that’s precisely what I want this to be: a community of like-minded individuals, united in their common passion, heads up, hearts full, and actually talking to each other. Doesn’t sound like much to ask, does it?
So what is actually going on you may ask…? Well, the thinking cap went on, and wasn’t removed until I’d come up with an entire hatful of the best and silliest ideas I could bring to Blue Tit’s 40th Birthday Party.
Picture this: a festival meets village fête, set in the grounds of Eastnor Castle’s Deer Park on 16 May this year. It is the place where Land Rover history is embedded in the mud, rolling hills, lakes and ancient oaks.
“Richard Hammond joins us alongside his brilliant daughter, Izzy. He has agreed, I am not quite sure why, to host Blue Tit’s big moment – the ceremony in which she will receive her classic car registration plate”
On the main stage, hosted by Mike Fernie, we have an extraordinary lineup of people who genuinely love this Land Rover pocket of the world. Alex Bescoby, author, historian, and the man who drove a Series 1 Land Rover called Oxford from Singapore to London, will be sharing tales that make my Romanian escapades look rather tame. And some say that Land Rovers are unreliable…
The Turner Twins, adventurers of the highest order, will be doing what they do best. The duo, who between them have rowed the Atlantic, reached multiple Poles of Inaccessibility, and set a world record in a tandem electric paramotor, will be hard at work making the rest of us feel spectacularly unadventurous.
Richard Hammond joins us alongside his brilliant daughter, Izzy. He has agreed, I am not quite sure why, to host Blue Tit’s big moment – the ceremony in which she will receive her classic car registration plate. She’s absolutely earned it and because it wasn’t just me who got her there, her previous owners will be joining us for the fun too! And even Mr Editor Frankel is threatening to turn up in his even older Series III, if it survives the journey.
Our Andrew Frankel is hoping to bring along his Series III
Then, before the sun goes down, while the Ferris wheel spins, things get properly festive. A ceilidh with Fitty Gomash, live music from Florence Sommerville Duo and The 45s, before NOASIS close out the main stage in the most fitting, joyful way imaginable. The afterparty rumbles late into the night, with Land Rover DJs and the hilarious pianist from my university’s sports evenings keeping things going long into the Herefordshire evening.
Beyond the stage, there are Land Rover parades, village fête games, a dog show, shopping, and food and drink served, naturally, from a Land Rover. And for those who want to get properly stuck in, the Land Rover Experience Centre, based right there at Eastnor, the very place where Hill Descent Control was invented, will be providing six vehicles for guests to experience off-road. It felt wrong to have a Land Rover birthday party anywhere else.
You can camp, glamp, or sleep in your roof tent like the proper adventurer you so clearly are.
It is, in short, the silliest and most wonderful thing I have ever done. Not that I’ve actually done it yet. I am unbelievably excited and also a little bit stressed to be opening the gates to my Land Rover’s Birthday Party. This event organising process taught me so much. As somebody who jumps into all things with both feet, taking on such a huge project like this is unbelievably exciting but also a lot. But the accountant, lawyer, saleswoman, health and safety and marketer hats are, albeit wobbly, just about on my head.
Once it is all over, I hope to breathe a huge sigh of relief, shortly before downing quite a lot of beer, with a huge grin on my face along with everyone who was kind enough to turn up.
It’s about time some real community and fun were injected into the classic car sphere, and I really hope you’ll be able to experience it for yourself!
Anyone wishing to join us to Blue Tit’s 40th Birthday Party (Land Rovers requested but in no way required) can find more details, including ticketing at overintherover.com.
I hope to see you there!
