20 Oct 2022 Community

Huddersfield Tractor Fest raises thousands for The Kirkwood as annual event gets bigger and better

The Huddersfield Tractor Festival took place on the 23rd of July this year and raised over £8,000 for The Kirkwood. The festival has become increasingly popular since it began back in 2019 and is a special event in our fundraising calendar.  

The annual event was created by Steven and Barbara Hirstle and the money raised is split between The Kirkwood and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.  

Having raised an outstanding £6,000 in total for both charities in 2019 the  festival commitee wanted to make the next Tractor Fest bigger and better than ever. They raised over £6,500 for The Kirkwood alone in 2021, £13,000 all told and this year they have smashed that record again by raising £16,000 between the two causes.   

It was a Tractor enthusiasts delight on the day again as over 100 tractors could be viewed in all their glory. The event, which is unique for the area, is one where the whole community comes together to celebrate and whilst also supporting  two important charities. 5,000 people walked through the gates this year with the Yorkshire Air Ambulance landing their helicopter at the event too which was a real crowd pleaser.  

There was lots more to enjoy at the event and Barbara was pleased that it raised such a huge amount of money for charity, she said: “We have now done three events and have raised over £39,000 in that time, which is just magnificent, we are so proud of what we have done and achieved. We have enjoyed putting the events on each year and thankfully we have made each event better than the previous one.  

“The massive draw this year was the fact we were able to have the Air Ambulance land at our event which we haven’t been able to do before. We had more tractors come this year and more trade vehicles too.  

“We had two fantastic bands play at the event later in the day which was great entertainment and I wanted to give a special shoutout to both, helter-skelter and Paddy Whack who are local bands. We also had a motorcycle stunt team called On The Edge who were the main ring attraction and they went down a storm too. 

“We have had some brilliant feedback from people who attended this year and that has been great and helpfully we can take that into next year where we’ll be back trying to make it bigger and better than ever.”  

Mark, another key organiser of the event added: “We couldn’t put this event on without the help of our dedicated volunteers, they are the ones that make the event so spectacular and run so smoothly. To raise funds for both The Kirkwood and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance we think they are both great causes and we are very proud to raise funds for them. Both theses charities support the community so much and are so needed, and it’s a total pleasure to raise funds for them.  

“When you wake up at 6am on the morning of the event you tend to be nervous and just hope all the planning now falls into place and that you have some good weather, so when it does come off like it has this year it’s just brilliant.” 

On next year Barbara  said: “We don’t make any profit ourselves from the event, all the money raised either will go into next year’s event or towards the two charities. We said if this year was a success we would go again for next year, as the event did go well, we all sat in the beer tent at the end of the day and we all said, bring on 2023.” 

Everyone at The Kirkwood would like to thank Barbara, Steven, Mark and the rest of the team for their incredible hard work to make the event such a success again this year and roll on to 2023.