Great Yarmouth festival gets a big thumbs up from vehicle enthusiasts

A popular Norfolk festival has been hailed ‘the best seafront spectacular’ of its kind by visitors.

The Great Yarmouth Wheels Festival celebrated everything with an engine over the weekend, from classic cars to custom bikes lining the whole of the Golden Mile.
Organised by Visit Great Yarmouth, around 75,000 flocked to the seafront to admire novelty vehicles, superbikes and lovingly restored classic cars, alongside the UK’s largest monster truck Big Pete and its racing rival team mate The Grim Reaper.

Each day the Best Club, Club Star and Best in Show were recognised by a panel of judges, with Saturday’s Best Club going to the Essex Petrolheads.
Founder Lee Parkinson, who grew the club from three friends to nearly 9,000 members in three years, brought 23 cars and 160 members after visiting for the first time alone last year.
He said: “This is how you do a seafront show. It is an amazing venue and the organisers should be really proud of what they have achieved in Great Yarmouth.
“It’s one of the best I’ve seen – a lovely family event and we will definitely be back next year.”
Laurence Harvey was awarded the Essex Petrolheads Club Star for his modified Ford Mustang GT.
He bought the car new in 2022 and has gradually transformed it into a high-performance machine producing more than 650 brake horsepower, with the nickname of Stealth.
“I’ve always wanted an American car, and I go to lots of shows across the country, so I’ve driven her about 50,000 miles. There are some hard contenders here so it’s a real surprise to win especially as it’s the first time I’ve been to Wheels.”

Laurence attended the event with his partner Shelia Hart, who owns a 1998 Jaguar XK8, which is wrapped in glitter.
“We joke that he brings the thunder and I bring the lightening,” she said.
Mick and Ryan Deering, a father-and-son team from Lincolnshire, won the Best in Show award with their beautifully restored 1969 Bedford CA van.
Originally used as Mick’s work van for 28 years, it spent its life outdoors until it eventually needed a complete rebuild.
With their day jobs busy as classic car restorers, Mick and Ryan spent most evenings for two years working on the van from the ground up.
Since finishing the project in 2019, they have exhibited the van at shows around the UK, with this year their second trip to Wheels, which they incorporated with a week’s family holiday in Great Yarmouth.

Mick said: “I’ve been showing vehicles for the last 35 years and my son has grown up going to car shows.
“Having said that this wasn’t why we did the van up, it was purely so we could have something different. There aren’t many of these about in the UK and I think this is the only one like it.”
Sunday’s Best Club went to Iconic American Autos and Club Star was Glen Monroe from Haddiscoe with his Cadillac Eldorado, which was in last year’s Fantastic Four film.
Best in Show was awarded to Dean Brett from Gorleston, who runs Alison Motor Bodies in Great Yarmouth, with his Porsche 356 Speedster.
Other highlights over the two days were Bolddog FMX, the UK’s number one freestyle motocross stunt team, the BMXtras, who hosted workshops and invited people to try the sport and Ken Fox’s Hell Riders Wall of Death.

Nathan Race, Chairman of Visit Great Yarmouth said: “The seafront was packed both days with the most unique cars and bikes, complemented by some jaw-dropping exhibitions and performances from some world class entertainers.
“We are really proud of Wheels, it has become a really popular event not just for our residents and day trippers’ calendars, but also for our holidaymakers who book a stay in Great Yarmouth and incorporate the event into it time and time again.”

Asa Morrison, Chief Executive of Visit Great Yarmouth added: “I think when you get an endorsement like we did from the Essex Petrolheads it’s a great feeling because it does take a huge amount of planning from our team and our partners to organise and operate this type of event, which is a really valuable for the area.
“We do everything we can so that people can really enjoy Wheels. Each year we invest in the event to make it bigger and better. There was a lovely family atmosphere that really radiated across the seafront.”