Formula Vee Festival - 11/12th July 2015
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Since this article was published, the Formula Vee Festival has been postponed for this year, due to circumstances beyond the associations control. While the Festival committee are extremely disappointed at this outcome, they are already preparing plans for a successful return during the 2016 season.
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Since it began back in 2012, Paul Heavey and Leastone have been active members of the promotional and organisation committee for the Formula Vee festival. It is the brain child of the Formula Vee Association, which is comprised completely of volunteer experienced motorsport enthusiasts who have worked tirelessly since its inception to ensure its ongoing success.
The aim of the Formula Vee Festival is 3 fold:
- To promote Irish Motorsport - To raise money for charity - To create a family day out
Over the 3 years of its running, approx. €45,000 has been raised for Irish charities, with the Barrettstown Hole in the Wall gang benefitting in 2012 and the LauraLynn Children’s Hospice receiving the proceeds over 2013 and 2014.
With the help of sponsors, the Formula Vee Association purchase the gate each year from Mondello Park Ltd, which allows the association to distribute any number of complimentary tickets and this, along with heavy promotion via local print and radio media has resulted in the Festival pulling in the largest attendance figures for a motorsport circuit event during the year.
Friends of the Association provide bouncing castles, face painting, racing simulators and more, to keep little ones entertained during the breaks in on track action which also creates a tremendous buzz in the paddock, where all spectators also have complete access to the cars, drivers and teams.
In the past 3 events, printing costs for the race programmes and promotional posters have been covered by the Festival sponsors and within the programmes, advertising space is sold to raise money for the chosen charity.
On the Saturday night, an auction is held in the Mondello clubhouse. This auction features a number of special items donated by sponsors and friends of the Formula Vee association and all proceeds from the auction go to the chosen charity.
The success is looking to continue into 2015, with the festival being held on the 11/12th of July at Mondello Park. Aside from the intense championship battles throughout the year, the Formula Vee Association have created the Formula Vee Festival, which is seen as the blue riband event of the year. This is a non-championship event and despite this, it is the event that all drivers want to win. The championship rounds are dealt with on the Saturday, while the festival is held on Sunday, with a number of heats, followed by knockout semi-finals to determine the grid for the all-important final. This format means a total of 7 Formula Vee races in the one day!
The event has had fantastic sponsors over the past few years, including Leastone partners Finol and Dunlop, and this sponsorship covers any overheads, meaning that all proceeds go directly to the chosen charity. There is always room for more sponsors so head to www.formulavee.ie or contact us directly for full details of all sponsorship opportunities.
