Important MGLive! Announcement – Monday 1st April 2019

 

The MG Car Club is devastated to announce that the decision has been made to rest MGLive! for 2019, and refocus efforts into a new format International MG meeting for 2020.

Last month, Silverstone Circuits Limited made a decision to carry out essential track maintenance during June 2019, meaning that MGLive! wasn’t able to take place at the venue on the selected dates, leaving the Club without a venue or date for MGLive! 2019.

MGLive! is a meeting steeped in history with an event being held every summer for the past 68 years. Given this history, the Club has been exploring options to move the event to a new location, and/or date for 2019.

After extensive research into new locations and dates; it has sadly become clear that there are no feasible options to host an event this summer and the decision has been made to rest MGLive! for 2019 as a final resort.

All ticket holders for 2019 will be contacted directly by the Club and issued full refunds automatically before the 15^th April 2019.

The Club are requesting that ticket holders do not contact the Club to discuss refunds, and wait to be contacted directly by the Club. This is to ensure the refunds process is carried out as quickly and smoothly as possible.

Adam Sloman, General Manager of MG Car Club commented “We are very sorry to be updating everyone with such disappointing news.

The Club has been incredibly determined to try and find an alternative solution for MGLive! this year and sadly, the deeper we have delved into all of the options – different venues, dates, hosting an entertainment only event – the less feasible putting on MGLive! in 2019 has looked.

It has been incredibly challenging to find a venue that has capacity to hold a race and/or entertainment event in the peak of the season, with the capability to put on a large scale event in such a challengingly tight timeframe. We’ve spoken to a number of venues; and it has become very clear that moving the entire event at short notice just isn’t possible.

It is such a shame, with so many members and classic car enthusiasts purchasing tickets in advance in record numbers. We are deeply sorry to all of those ticket holders who had supported the Club and event, and they will all be refunded very soon.

It would be incredibly helpful if ticket holders were able to bear with us a little longer and allow us to get in touch with them directly regarding refunds rather than contacting the Club office to discuss. This would really help us with processing refunds in an orderly fashion.

We’d also like to thank the members of the Club for their overwhelming support and all their many suggestions of venues and introductions to venues up and down the country.

The support from venues, classic car events and the classic car community has been truly awe-inspiring and all we can say is we are incredibly grateful and thanks to everyone involved for all their support and help.”

The Club are planning to regroup and refocus efforts for 2020 into a new format International MG meeting, keeping the best elements of MGLive! but bringing in some fresh, new ideas to widen the event’s appeal.

FAQs

What is the background to this? Why has this happened?

The Club has been put in to a very unfortunate circumstance. Silverstone have to carry out essential track maintenance, and the window they have selected is June 2019. This means the circuit will be out of action for the majority of the month; meaning no racing is possible.

As a result of this; and no availability to hold a like-for-like meeting on the Grand Prix circuit there is no other option to host MGLive! at Silverstone in 2019. The Club have then set about looking at options to move MGLive! to a new venue and/or date for 2019.

I thought you were going to rearrange the event? You said you were looking at options?

As we outlined in our previous statement, the Club was incredibly keen to move forwards from the Silverstone cancellation and try and find an alternative location for MGLive! in 2019.

We had many suggestions from Members on alternative venues, offers of availability from venues and offers from other events.

The challenge the Club has had is that MGLive! is a very unique event; combining a full race meeting with a large entertainment event & car show. Many of the suggestions just didn’t have the required infrastructure, the right size, options to hold key elements like the California Cup Autotest & Autosolo, accessible location and able to hold the thousands of visitors and cars who attend MGLive!. We were keen to try and keep as many elements of the event as possible to keep the feel of the event consistent as well as keep as many arrangements as possible in place due to the short timescale.

We had a small shortlist of a couple of venues; but after in depth conversations it became increasingly clear that it just wasn’t feasible to move an event of this scale at such short notice, which has led us to the disappointing decision to rest the event for 2019.

I’ve already bought tickets. Will I get a refund?

Yes.

The Club is in the process of writing to all ticket holders via mail with information regarding their refunds.

All refunds will be processed automatically, so there is no need to contact the Club.

Do I need to apply for a refund?

No, all refunds will be processed automatically so you don’t need to do anything.

The Club is in the process of writing to all ticket holders via mail with information regarding their refunds.

What about 2020? Does this mean the end of MGLive! forever?

No, the Club is resting the event in 2019, which means we are starting work to pull together an even better, revitalised International MG meeting for 2020.

What about if I’ve booked hotels/travel for Silverstone in June?

We’re really sorry about the inconvenience and upset the cancellation has caused.

We would suggest you get in touch with your travel provider/ travel insurance company to see what your options are.

For anyone who was planning to stay in the area; Kimber House will be open over the weekend of 15-16 June for visitors. Why not come and take a drive on some of the factory test routes, visit some local landmarks and still make a weekend of it?

A contract is a contract surely? How can Silverstone do this? What about compensation?

We are really sorry but we cannot go into any further details at the moment for legal reasons.