The street-car vibe in Cape Town is loud, proud and in your face, fuelled by enthusiasts who grew up with the Fast and Furious movies and who wouldn’t be caught dead driving a standard car.
We love start-line burnouts, violent launches, drifting, stance cars, glittering wraps and megawatt sound systems. And that’s where StreetFest was born: On the streets of Cape Town. Petrolheads call it that because it’s a festival of street car (and motorcycle) culture, one of the Cape’s biggest and most popular gatherings of counterculture car lovers.
StreetFest 2023 at Killarney on Wednesday 27 December, presented in association with Smile 90.4 FM, sees some of South Africa’s fastest drag racing cars and motorcycles throw down on the Killarney drag strip in front of thousands of cheering fans as the Cape’s fastest drag racers take on top challengers from the Eastern Cape in the grudge match of the year.
Get your spectator tickets from Ticketmaster on www.ticketmaster.co.za at R100 for adults and free for children under 12, or on the day at the gate: R120 for adults at the gate, free for under-12s. And, as always, Western Province Motor Club members get in free on production of their membership book at the gate.
It’s always the last motorsport event of the year and the Killarney family leave nothing at home – ‘haal uit en wys’ is the order of the day. It’s the biggest American-style drag racing event on the Killarney calendar, complete with a ‘Christmas Tree’ of yellow lights counting down to an explosive launch. Blink and you’ll miss the blast-off, although the wall of sound that accompanies a top drag racer getting off the line is impossible to ignore!
Local and national competitors will vie for the loudest onboard sound systems at the IASCA (International Auto Sound Challenge Association) Sound-off in the Joubert Pits., with readings in the region of 150 dB – that’s about as loud as a jet fighter on take-off! – from cars with batteries the size of bar fridges powering megawatt amps and cavernous speakers via multiple cables as thick as your thumb.
Also in the Joubert Pits Complex will be a display of modified and customised (not quite the same thing!) street cars and motorcycles – from old school classic restorations to modern stance cars.
There will food and refreshments available from the Joubert Pits Lounge as well as a number of food vendors (including halaal), stalls selling auto memorabilia, car bling and accessories, as well as jumping castles and more entertainment for the whole family, with DJ’s rocking the decks for a full day of thrills and family fun.
For more information contact the Western Province Motor Club at (021) 557-1639 during office hours, or email info@wpmc.co.za.
