ad – I was given press tickets for silverstone lap of lights but all thoughts are my own
If you follow me on social media then you might have seen me talking about Motorsport and Formula 1 before. My boyfriend and I are HUGE Motorsport fans and it makes up a huge part of our relationship. So you can imagine my absolute delight when I was invited to attend Silverstone Lap of Lights event for 2021.
Silverstone is the heart of British Motorsport. The venue hosts the British Grand Prix every year and is one of the most spectacular circuits in the world. It’s fast, it’s furious and it always encourages amazing racing, brilliant overtakes and controversial on-track moves. You only have to rewind to Sunday 18th July this year to see one of those.
As the racing world packs up for Winter an goes into hibernation, the Silverstone circuit is coming back to life, with it’s Lap of Lights event again this year. Launched on Thursday 25th November, with driver Anthony Davidson driving the Mercedes W10 to kick off the festivities, it’s a truly magical night out for the entire family.
The great thing about Lap of Lights too is that you don’t have to be a racing fan to enjoy it. If you are, then great, you get to experience that extra wow-factor of being at Silverstone and in many areas of the track and circuit you wouldn’t have been before. But if you’re not, there’s plenty there to do and enjoy anyway!
The Lap of Lights
Let’s start with the main attraction, which is obviously the lap itself. You book your time slot, which are available every half an hour and the lap in total took around 40 minutes from start to finish. It’s worth adding that there isn’t lights around the ENTIRE lap of Silverstone and it does take about 15 minutes to drive from the entrance to where the festive lights actually begin.
It’s very well organized however, the men and women who work there, scanning tickets and directing you to the right place were absolutely faultless for the Lap of Lights. The logistics of how they’ve done it to get so many cars on and off the laps so quickly and efficiently is incredible.
The light shows are laid out in themes of various places around the world, including America, Asia and the Antarctic. So you’ll see relevant lights and decorations based on that part of the world. The lights were fantastic – it was really a surreal experience driving around the circuit in the dark (in the snow as well, in our case!) among all these incredible lights and lasers.
The Ice Trak
As well as the Lap of Lights, the other main attraction for this year is the Ice Trak. Which is a purpose built ice rink within the pit lane and garages. The track winds around creating a mini circuit of it’s own and you’ll be skating through the garages in which your favourite Formula 1 drivers, teams and cars will have been situated during the Grand Prix.
The Ice Trak is £12 per adult and you get an hour on the ice, which I think is great value and well enough time to enjoy it. Again, you have to book your slot for ice skating which you can either do online or on the day. But note that the ice trak is very popular, so you might not get the slot you want if it’s a busy day.
The Ice Trak and the facilities were excellently run. You get taken in to a little gift shop area, before entering the rink where you can grab your skates before heading onto the ice. We had an absolute BLAST ice skating and Carl did brilliantly, considering he hadn’t skated in over 16 years! Although he did have a few spectacular falls!
The Lodge
The Lodge is the main hub where you’ll find places to eat, drink, buy gifts and also listen to live music! It’s warm and cozy inside with Christmas trees and decorations galore – they’ve really done a wonderful job with this space and made it look and feel so festive. The Lodge is situated in the Main Wing of the circuit. This is where – on a usual Grand Prix weekend – the VIP’s will be.
You’ll also find some Winter activities, such as curling and axe throwing in The Lodge. These are great extras to pass the time and also try something new that you’ve probably not done before. Axe throwing is surprisingly hard – a lot harder than it looks! But the guys showing you how it’s done are great.
It’s also worth adding that there’s a Cozy Kids Corner in the lodge where they show Christmas films on a big screen, with comfy bean bags to sit on as well as some Christmas crafts with Santa’s little Elf helpers to assist. Perfect for anyone with younger children!
We didn’t end up eating in the main area of The Lodge, we grabbed a pizza and a drink from downstairs next to the ice rink, as we had about 45 minutes to spare before our slot for ice skating, so it was a convenient place to grab a bite. There were plenty of places to sit and the pizzas we had were absolutely lovely!
Final thoughts?
We loved every second of Silverstone’s Lap of Lights. It’s a truly magical and fun night out for the whole family to enjoy; racing fan or not. You could literally spend hours there as there’s enough to do to whisk the day away before your lap around the circuit when it gets dark.
Lap of Lights is running until 3rd January and tickets are just £30 for one car. You can add on your additional tickets for ice skating at the checkout too for a jam packed, fun day. If you fancy heading along before they shut Santa’s doors for another year, you can book your tickets here!
Have you been to Silverstone Lap of Lights yet? If so, what did you think? If not, will you be heading there this year?
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