Ishan Crawford Scotland’s first StreetCar Festival will run at John Clark Motor Group in Dundee from 31 July to 2 August, sitting alongside the FIA Eco Rally Scotland’s return to Tayside, with the festival’s full date and programme announcement published by Motorsport UK on 8 July 2026. The festival is an offshoot of Motorsport UK’s low-cost StreetCar entry-level programme, which is designed to make it easy to enjoy motorsport in an everyday road car. Across the weekend, visitors will be able to take part in AutoSOLO passenger rides, EV showcases, an Esports area, test drives and a Girls Karting Academy Taster Day, with local volunteer-run motor clubs running most of the activities.
The StreetCar Festival is the first of its kind staged in Scotland, and the first public test of the StreetCar programme at scale. It is the quieter of the two events sharing the Dundee weekend, with the international FIA Eco Rally Scotland getting most of the spotlight. The StreetCar programme’s pitch, per Claire Kirkpatrick of Motorsport UK, is that motorsport is closer than people think. Dundee is where the public gets to test that claim, with the John Clark Motor Group forecourt serving as the festival’s main activity hub.
Two Events Share One Dundee Weekend
Motorsport UK confirmed on 17 June 2026 that FIA Eco Rally Scotland would return to Dundee from 31 July to 2 August, expanded this year to incorporate the inaugural StreetCar Festival Scotland. The two events will share the same weekend, with the StreetCar Festival forming a city-centre wrapper around the rally’s competitive route. A single release from Motorsport UK set out the joint weekend’s details, including the Eco Rally and Festival combination details.
The rally carries the theme “Adventure. Electrified.” and runs as an official round of the 2026 FIA ecoRally Cup, the international series open to two-person crews in standard production electric vehicles. Hugh Chambers, the CEO of Motorsport UK, said the joint weekend brings “international competition, grassroots participation and future mobility in a way that allows more people than ever before to enjoy motorsport.” He framed the Dundee weekend alongside Rally Scotland’s planned FIA World Rally Championship round as a new chapter for motorsport in Scotland. Visitors will discover, in his words, “that there is a motorsport for everyone.”
FIA Eco Rally Scotland and the StreetCar Festival are aimed at different audiences and operate on different formats, even as they share a host city and a weekend. The StreetCar Festival is a newcomer-friendly, hands-on event, while the Eco Rally is a competitive international regularity rally. A breakdown of the key differences follows below.
| Attribute | StreetCar Festival Scotland | FIA Eco Rally Scotland |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Three-day city-centre festival with family activities and passenger rides | Two-day international regularity rally on a multi-stage road route |
| Vehicles | Any road-legal car; AutoSOLO competition | Standard production electric vehicles only |
| Dates in 2026 | 31 July to 2 August | 1 to 2 August |
| Intended audience | Newcomers, families, first-timers, local clubs | International two-person crews in production EVs |
| How to take part | Free public access, passenger rides, no experience required | Competitive entry through the SMRC and the FIA cup process |
| Theme | StreetCar, Motorsport UK’s entry-level programme | “Adventure. Electrified.” |
What the StreetCar Programme Offers
StreetCar is Motorsport UK’s entry-level programme, designed to make it easy to enjoy motorsport in an everyday road car rather than a purpose-built machine. The programme runs a low-cost discipline called AutoSOLO, in which a single car negotiates a tight course marked out by cones, with the Dundee weekend forming its largest single showcase in Scotland to date.
You do not need a purpose-built car or years of experience to get started, just a willingness to have a go, in the words of Claire Kirkpatrick, Motorsport UK’s Director of Club and Volunteer Development. The festival is a way to put that message in front of the public, in a setting where visitors can also meet the local clubs that run the events on a regular basis, and the StreetCar programme homepage frames the offer the same way. Kirkpatrick spoke ahead of the festival, with her comments published in the Motorsport UK announcement on 8 July 2026. Her full quote is set out below.
StreetCar is all about showing people that motorsport is closer than they think. You don’t need a purpose-built car or years of experience to get started, just a willingness to have a go. The Scotland StreetCar Festival is a fantastic opportunity for people to experience the fun of grassroots motorsport, meet their local clubs and see how easy it can be to get involved.
What Visitors Will Find on the Ground
The festival programme is built around hands-on activities rather than competition, with the rally’s international route running in parallel as a separate event. Visitors will be able to take part in AutoSOLO passenger rides, the marquee experience on the forecourt, alongside touring assemblies, an Esports area, EV showcases and test drives. The site is also hosting a Girls Karting Academy Taster Day, designed to open up new pathways into the sport for young women who have never tried karting before. Hands-on engagement is the festival’s main job, putting the StreetCar programme’s low-cost premise in front of the public.
Local motor clubs will run most of the activities, with several Dundee-based partners already confirmed, including Bell Street Mobility Hub, Abertay University and John Clark Motor Group itself. Evolt Charging has been confirmed as the event’s charging partner. The full weekend of activities is set out below.
- AutoSOLO passenger rides, run by local volunteer motor clubs
- Touring assemblies of street-legal cars
- Esports experiences
- EV showcases, including test drives
- A Girls Karting Academy Taster Day for first-time karting
- Family-friendly attractions and club information stands
The wider StreetCar programme is set out on the programme’s own website, where local clubs and disciplines are listed by region. At the festival’s official information page, visitors can find the full activity schedule for the weekend’s combined events. The StreetCar Festival is the public-facing start of a broader push to bring new participants into the sport.
Why Dundee Is the Testbed
Three figures explain why Motorsport UK picked Dundee for the joint weekend. The city is one of the UK’s leading centres for electric vehicles, with 34% of all fleet vehicles on its books already electric. Dundee City Council is also working to deliver Scotland’s net-zero by 2045 commitment. UNESCO City of Design status is the third, a designation the Eco Rally’s organisers cited when they brought the first edition of the rally to Tayside in 2025.
John Clark Motor Group’s Broomhill Road site, the dealership group said, was the perfect ceremonial start for the rally, with SEAT, Skoda and CUPRA franchise operations on the same site. The group’s chairman, John Clark OBE, said hosting the rally aligned with the company’s commitment to the future of mobility, sustainability, and cutting-edge automotive technology.
The 2025 inaugural FIA Eco Rally Scotland ran from 26 to 27 July, becoming the first FIA event in Scotland for 14 years. Michael Žďárský and Jakub Nábělek, the reigning champions, took the overall win in a Hyundai Kona Electric, with Emmanuel Guigou and Emilien le Borgne taking Category Two in an Alpine A290 and James Hotles and Iain Tullie winning the National class in a Honda e:Ny1. Across more than 300 miles of on-road stages in Tayside, the 2026 edition builds on the 2025 inaugural.
That 2025 result is the baseline for the 2026 running, which doubles up with the new StreetCar Festival. The joint weekend is also the test bed for a longer-term plan to grow grassroots motorsport participation in Scotland.
A Bigger Story Beyond One Weekend
The StreetCar programme’s pitch has not changed since launch. It is open to anyone with a road-legal car, with low-cost entry points designed to remove the traditional financial barrier that comes with purpose-built machines and years of grassroots racing. The Dundee weekend is the first time the programme has been placed at the centre of a city-centre festival in Scotland.
The Scottish Motor Racing Club, which has run the Eco Rally’s organising side since 2025, has also backed the StreetCar concept, with the two initiatives now sharing a host city and a weekend. Motorsport UK has framed the joint weekend as part of a wider push to bring Rally Scotland back to the country via a planned FIA World Rally Championship round. The StreetCar Festival is, on paper, the smallest piece of that plan, but it is the piece the public will see first. For the StreetCar programme, the festival is the first public-scale test of whether a single weekend of activities can convert curious visitors into regular competitors.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where is the Scotland StreetCar Festival?
The festival runs from 31 July to 2 August 2026 at John Clark Motor Group on Broomhill Road in Dundee. The site sits a short drive from the city centre and is also the ceremonial start for the FIA Eco Rally Scotland. The wider weekend’s competitive rally route runs on 1 to 2 August.
Do I need a special car or experience to attend?
No previous motorsport experience is required to attend. The festival is built around everyday road-legal cars and free public access, with AutoSOLO passenger rides run by local volunteer motor clubs. The Girls Karting Academy Taster Day is open to anyone interested in trying karting for the first time. The StreetCar programme is designed to remove the traditional financial and experience barriers that come with purpose-built machines.
What activities will be on offer?
The festival programme includes AutoSOLO passenger rides, touring assemblies, Esports experiences, EV showcases, test drives and family-friendly attractions, plus a Girls Karting Academy Taster Day. Volunteer motor clubs deliver most of the activities. The festival’s own information page is at ecorally.scot, with further details listed on the Motorsport UK announcement.
How does the festival connect to the FIA Eco Rally Scotland?
The two events share the same Dundee weekend, with the festival running in the city centre and the rally’s competitive route across Tayside. The Eco Rally is a separate international competition for two-person crews in standard production electric vehicles, run as a round of the Bridgestone FIA ecoRally Cup. The 2025 inaugural event covered more than 300 miles of on-road stages across Tayside and was won overall by Michael Žďárský and Jakub Nábělek in a Hyundai Kona Electric. The 2026 event is the second running of the rally, after the 2025 inaugural.
Who is putting the festival on?
The festival is run by Motorsport UK, with the Scottish Motor Racing Club running the Eco Rally side of the weekend. Confirmed festival partners include Bell Street Mobility Hub, Abertay University, John Clark Motor Group and Evolt Charging. John Clark Motor Group’s Broomhill Road site is also the ceremonial start for the Eco Rally.
Where can I find more information?
More information is published on the event’s own information page at ecorally.scot, with further details listed on the Motorsport UK announcement. The StreetCar programme’s own homepage lists local clubs and disciplines available across the UK. The 17 June 2026 confirmation from Motorsport UK sets out the joint weekend’s plans in full. Local club listings and event calendars are kept up to date on the StreetCar website.
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