THE countdown has begun to a major summer festival held at a north Hampshire farm.

CarFest returns to Laverstoke Park Farm, near Overton, for the third year to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for BBC Children in Need.

The event was set up by BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans, who had a dream of creating a fundraising event that celebrated his passion for fast cars, rock music and food.

To date, CarFest has raised over £2million for charity.

The festival will be held over the August bank holiday weekend.

Chris said: “The wonderful world of CarFest is back. Prepare yourselves for a feast of fabulous festival food, marvellous fast cars and live shows from the kind of bands we all love. It’s going to be utterly, scrumptiously fantastic!”

An impressive line-up of cars will race along a Hill Climb at CarFest, including Chris’ own collection of Magnificent 7 Ferraris and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason’s Maserati 250F.

Former Formula One champion Jody Scheckter, who owns Laverstoke Park Farm with his wife Clare, will be back in action at CarFest South, after performing some dramatic demo runs last year in his title winning Ferrari.

The showground will again be packed with stunts and displays, while an outdoor play area, with entertainers and performers, will keep children happy.

The Cakes versus Pies competition will also return, with judges including Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood from BBC2’s The Great British Bake Off.

Air displays will include the RAF Red Arrows and Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

A host of top bands will also perform throughout the weekend, including Erasure, Eliza Doolittle, Simple Minds, Seasick Steve, Scouting for Girls, Jools Holland, The Feeling, 10cc, Chas and Dave, Jamie Cullum and Texas.