Auto festival blends F1 fun with local cultural splendor
THE Shanghai Auto Culture Festival 2024 kicked off on April 19 in Jiading, comprising 20 activities during the month-long event.
Around 200,000 visitors came to the host venue of the 2024 F1 Chinese Grand Prix, during which local driver Zhou Guanyu finished 14th in his maiden Chinese GP on April 21.
Running through May 31, the annual festival will be a carnival for both sports enthusiasts and travelers from home and abroad to experience the cultural and tourism splendor of Jiading.
Featuring a mix of auto history, lifestyle, and future-related activities, the festival will merge the district’s spring tourism resources and cultural events to enrich the experience of F1 fans and tourists, according to the Jiading District Culture and Tourism Bureau.
Synchronized with the F1 China Grand Prix, the first Checkered Flag Music Carnival was hosted at the Shanghai International Circuit on April 19-21, bringing together pioneering DJs, bands, singers, and musicians from home and abroad.
Other highlights of the festival include a vintage car parade, a motor sports-themed exhibition, as well as a car boot fair, said the organizer.
On May 1, a parade featuring vintage cars collected by the Shanghai Auto Museum will roll into Jiading New City, Jiabei Country Park and the villages, bringing automobile culture close to the public.
On May 1-5, a car boot fair will be held in Malu, Anting and Huating towns. The event will integrate Jiading’s high-quality cultural and tourism resources such as Yuanxiang Lake, Jiayuanhai Art Museum, Anting Old Street and the Huating Renjia homestay.
Meantime, a “No Man’s Land” demonstration experience area will be available through May 31. Located in the “EV-AI Intelligent Port” in the Shanghai Auto Expo Park, it features driverless demonstration application experiences based on 3.8 kilometers of semi-open roads in the park.
For those who are interested in the history of automobile sports, a motor sports-themed exhibition is being held at the Shanghai Automobile Museum and Jiading Library through August 31. Curated by Yao Qiming, the first racetrack designer in China, the exhibition displays the history of the world’s automobile sports for nearly 130 years.
“Leveraging the sports event, we’ve arranged a variety of cultural and tourism activities for F1 enthusiasts to explore Jiading,” said He Dongying, director of the Jiading District Culture and Tourism Bureau.