CARS and stars took centre stage at the weekend as Chris Evans' Carfest South returned for three days of family-orientated fun at former Formula One World Champion Jody Scheckter's farm – Laverstoke Park, near Overton.

At this year's festival, presented by cinch, some 50,000 visitors were treated to music acts including Kaiser Chiefs, Rag ’n’ Bone Man, Tom Odell, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Faithless Soundsystem, James Blunt, Judge Jules, Bob Marley Revival and Rick Parfitt Jnr to name but a few.

With three laps of the race track in his Ferrari, Evans kicked off the daily motoring events, which incorporated the best of modern motorsport, track stars and old-school heroes to the weird and wonderfully eccentric vehicles recognisable from the silver screen. Motor enthusiasts could wander amongst an impressive range of cars in the paddock or browse the selection of secondhand cars from Teslas to Minis available to buy at the cinch stand.

Entertainment for Children included a dedicated Kidsfest area, where presenters and characters from CBeebies and CBBC took to the stage. Dancing brothers AJ and Curtis Pritchard mingled amongst the crowd as well as regularly popping up on stages around the festival.

There were talks and interviews, including Russell Brand in conversation with wife Laura about her recently published family-friendly craft books - with, of course, some cheeky and hilarious interjecture from Russell himself. Another highlight from the Starfest area was Ben Miller and Alex Horne talking about Miller's latest children's book 'How I became a dog called midnight', it was a comical interview by Horne, which included the pair swapping roles for a time before launching chocolate digestives into the audience.

Main stage highlights on the Saturday were talented and perfectly polite, singer-songwriter Tom Odell - who, from his grand piano, rocked out some of his greatest hits including Another Love, Grow Old With Me and Hold Me - before headliners Kaiser Chiefs' frontman Ricky Wilson whipped the crowd into a 'riotous' frenzy with hits including Never Miss a Beat, Everyday I Love You Less and Less, Ruby, I Predict a Riot and Oh My God.

Primarily a fundraising event, this year's Carfest was supporting BBC Children in Need, Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, My Black Dog, Rainbow Trust, Starlight Children’s Foundation and Teenage Cancer Trust, as well as other local charities and hospices.