The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
City hosts Truckfest for the final time
Truckfest – the much-loved heavyvehicleshowcasewhich has been a regular staple on the city’s social calendar for 40 years – made its final farewell to Peterborough.
Organisers said they expected around 65,000 people andcloseto3,000truckstodescendupontheEastofEngland showground before the event started.
Judging by the well-documented traffic issues that the area experienced over the three days, those figures appear to have been met.
Crowds of people – many of whom had travelled from far and wide to attend the swansong festival – enjoyed the familiar cavalcade of giant vehicles, monster demonstrations,thrillingstuntshowsand special guests. Broke Outback trucker, Steve Grahame and Ice Road Trucker, Todd Dewy
were among the celebrities who joined in the fun.
Many Peterborians attending the event had bittersweet feelingsaboutitsdemise.Some lamented the “end of an era” while others saw the planned regeneration of the area as cause for optimism.
The East of England Arena and Events Centre will, courtesy of a £50 million regeneration plan, be transformed into a purpose-built leisure resort. Anewcouncil-backedhousing
developmentmayalsocomeinto being off the back of it.
Those with an upbeat outlook may herald the arrival of new leisure opportunities and the creation of hundreds of jobs. Others may see it as yet anotheraspectofthecity’sheritagebeingconfinedtohistory.
Photographer David Lowndes was given a special commendation by Truckfest organisers for covering the event, on behalf of the newspaper for the past 40 years.