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Festival of Slowth 2025: a celebration of delay, delight and delightful dysfunction
A Helica Leyat fires up its propeller — you know, that car that thinks it’s a plane (or perhaps the other way around?). Nearby, a Graham White cautiously eases out of its slumber and rolls into the day with the grace of a waking dinosaur. Not your average parking lot scene — unless, of course, you find yourself in the middle of the Festival of Slowth, deep in the heart of Burgundy.
Or, as it’s formally known: the Festival International de la Lenteur. An event not easily defined. It is not a rally. It is not a concours. It is certainly not your typical driving tour. It is… something else entirely. Something better.
The festival is not just about speed — or rather, the absence of it — but about celebrating the glorious absurdity of early motoring. The sluggish, the inefficient, the endearingly unreliable. Within the first five kilometres alone, seven cars had broken down. A mechanic’s paradise, or perhaps their personal purgatory.
The day’s only serious climb proved a true test. This reporter extends heartfelt thanks to the two brothers who heroically pushed our car uphill — and seemingly left their lung capacity somewhere halfway.
The stops along the route were exactly what one hopes for at such a gathering. Coffee from enormous pots, served on a makeshift table by the roadside. No fuss, no frills — just good company, mechanical tinkering, and old-fashioned camaraderie.
Lunch was served at the idyllic Château de Romenay, a beautifully restored estate surrounded by ancient barns and stables — the perfect setting for our collection of improbable vehicles. And indeed, we were invited to park them in the stables themselves, a scene that felt both surreal and entirely fitting.
After lunch, the entertainment began. A troupe of troubadours filled the courtyard with music, and the time had come for the “race of races” — a playful dash around the grounds. Your correspondent was narrowly defeated by his six-year-old daughter in her proud 1907 electric Lugano. A humbling loss, sweetened only by the grin on her face (and mine).
The vehicles on display over the weekend were utterly unique. Where else does one see a propeller-driven Helica parked beside a belt-driven Premier? Nowhere.
Our personal favourite? A Cyklon 10HP Limousine. A German marvel that perfectly embodies the spirit of the Festival of Slowth: a steering arrangement that only allows one person to sit up front, a cylinder-head cooling system that seems more sculpture than science, and a surface carburettor so ineffective you’d think it was a parody. Yet its bodywork — bold, imposing — suggests grandeur befitting a luxury marque. It wouldn’t look out of place in the PreWarCar.com collection.
The afternoon ended in thunder and rain — as if nature wanted to put an exclamation mark on a day that had started with blazing heat. The clever drivers were already back on the covered terrace, sipping well-earned glasses of Pastis. The rest arrived soaked, but beaming.
What remains is a sense of shared passion — for cars, for engineering, and ultimately, for inefficiency. This isn’t an event for speed or precision.
The Festival of Slowth is slow. It is strange. And it is spectacular.
We’re already counting the days until the next edition.
Text and photos by Laurens Klein
Published:
Sunday June 1st, 2025
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Comments
Dewever
03 June 2025, 08:18
Olayat
03 June 2025, 07:06
Merci pour ce magnifique article qui explique parfaitement l'esprit du Festival of Slowth
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cally
01 June 2025, 19:41
All credit to Vincent, Freddie, the marshalls, the catering staff, the hotel staff who laid out our clothes in the morning, the boot boys who shined our shoes each morning, the sommeliers, the food-tasters, the engineers on hand to fettle the breakdowns, the police out-riders, Cillian Murphy and friends to entertain us before Taylor Swift performed her acoustic set in the evening and the massive autojumble of free parts. Thank you all.
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Peter Griffiths
01 June 2025, 16:36
What an absolutely fabulous article.... thank you so much for sharing so many wonderful photographs. It is such a shame that it is a private event, but I can appreciate that hundreds of 'public' would make the event quite 'different'..... so I do understand the requirement for it to be private, so really appreciate the photos, thank you. Where in the UK can I see such an array of fabulous old cars? I do go to VSCC at Mallory etc. but are there any other suitable events I could explore? Perhaps with Montlhery, I should move to France. Great stuff... thank you.
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Stanislav Kirilets
01 June 2025, 12:36
My Favorite is also Cyclonette. Here are ads from Riga, St. Petersburg and Kiev, 1907-1910
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Jürgen W. Hanisch
01 June 2025, 10:15
It's a pity that it's a private event for invited guests only. The organiser had very rigorously rejected us as enthusiastic visitors. Too bad, but our Chenard-Walcker 1924 was also too fast and too young. Still a pity. So thank you for the report!
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Schade das es sich um eine reine Privatveranstaltung für geladene Gäste handelt. Der Veranstalter hatte uns sehr rigoros als begeisterte Besucher abgelehnt. Schade, aber unser Chenard-Walcker 1924 war auch zu schnell und zu jung. Trotzdem schade. Deshalb Danke für den Bericht !
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Schade das es sich um eine reine Privatveranstaltung für geladene Gäste handelt. Der Veranstalter hatte uns sehr rigoros als begeisterte Besucher abgelehnt. Schade, aber unser Chenard-Walcker 1924 war auch zu schnell und zu jung. Trotzdem schade. Deshalb Danke für den Bericht !
Thank you again from both brothers.
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Nous tenons à vous remercier pour la bière qui nous a permis de retrouver un peu d’énergie après ce poussage difficile.
Merci encore de la part des deux frères.