(STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.) – Chesterwood will host its annual Vintage Motorcar Festival on Sunday, May 26, 2013, from 10 am to 4 pm. In addition to an antique car competition, the event includes children’s activities, live music, and food. The event allows visitors to appreciate vintage cars while exploring the grounds of the former summer home of America’s foremost public sculptor, Daniel Chester French, creator of The Minute Man in Concord and Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.

“Car shows have always fascinated me,” says Rich Bradway, Festival Co-Chair and Chesterwood Advisory Council Member. “Vehicles at these shows are in essence time capsules which depict every facet of bygone eras – technological, societal, industrial, cultural and aesthetic. The Chesterwood Vintage Motorcar Festival is no exception.  We look at all of these influences, but probably none more than the aesthetic.  For those of us on the festival planning committee, we feel many of these vehicles are sculptures on wheels.”

The Chesterwood Vintage Motorcar Festival is Chesterwood’s major fundraising event of the year.  The cost of admission is a reduced general admission price of $15 per adult, and $10 for Friends of Chesterwood members.  Children under 18 are free.

Over the last three years, attendance at the festival has grown 50% each year, and vehicle participation has increased approximately 35% each year.  This year, the event will showcase vehicles owned by members of the Classic Car Club of America, Antique Automobile Club of America, Antique Motorcycle Club and Antique Fire Truck Club of America.

Returning to head up the recruitment of classic and vintage vehicles is Garth Story, as Co-Chair of the event. Garth is a member of the Classic Car Club of America (CCCA), the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) and the Packard Club. He is a certified Master Judge with the CCCA. Garth lives in Lee, MA, with his wife, Karen, and is a retired Elementary School Principal and Superintendent of Schools. He currently owns a 1941 Packard Limousine, a 1936 Rolls-Royce 20/25 and a 1948 Ford F-2 Pickup.

Returning this year, will be the Hagerty Operation Ignite! Connecting Kids and Cars – Youth Judging program.  Fifteen young car enthusiasts, between ages 8 to 12, are invited to take part.  Through the Operation Ignite! program, young judges will be provided official youth judging gear and will be led through the car show field by an adult guide. They will have the opportunity to get up close to selected world-class vehicles and meet their owners to gain first-hand knowledge of the cars and learn the basics of judging.

Vehicles to be judged as part of Operation Ignite! include: a 1936 Rolls-Royce 20/25,  a 1910 Oakland Model 24 Roadster, a 1961 Jaguar E-Type Roadster S/N 875014 , a 1962 Chrysler 300 Sport Convertible, and a vintage fire truck presented on behalf of the Antique Fire Truck Club of America.

Chesterwood also will offer a Car Scavenger Hunt to kids of all ages. Event patrons will be given a list of photos of interesting visual elements found on the vehicles being exhibited, which they then must find on the day of the event. Originally intended for kids attending the show, parents and adults at last year’s event also enjoyed hunting for unique and interesting elements of selected vehicles.  The scavenger hunt is now open to all patrons of the festival.

New this year, the Chesterwood Vintage Motorcar Festival partners with the Berkshire Athenaeum to offer Lego Racing.  A simple yet very popular activity with the Athenaeum’s monthly Lego Club, children of all ages will get to build custom cars out of Lego and then race them against each other in head-to-head competition.   A special prize will be awarded to the child who designs the most creative vehicle.

Lastly, this year’s event will showcase a number of kid-friendly vehicles, including approximately a dozen fire apparatus vehicles owned by members of the Antique Fire Truck Club of America.

Boston acoustic rock duo The Gentleman Outfit (TGO) will perform at the Chesterwood Vintage Motorcar Festival from 12 pm – 2 pm.  TGO endeavors to bridge the gap between today’s popular music and what it calls the pure acoustic roots of rock and roll. A strong foundation of vocal harmony, coupled with the simple marriage of a guitar and a djembe, makes for a unique sound that spans several genres and generations.  TGO is made up of Jesse McCullagh (Guitar, Vocals) and Jim LeSuer (Djembe, Vocals).

Lakota BBQ and Barrington Bites will be returning this year to showcase some of the best food in the Berkshires. Multicultural Bridge, a Berkshire-based advocacy group that promotes a mutual understanding and acceptance among diverse groups as a resource to both local institutions and community members at large, will be serving Mexican food, Jamaican jerk chicken and handmade cannolis.  In addition, How We Roll, a truck based in Pittsfield, will serve their unique egg roll concoctions. Berkshire County favorite SoCo Creamery will also be in attendance serving its ultra premium ice cream out of its own antique vehicle.  SoCo Creamery will once again offer free ice cream cones to kids participating in the Chesterwood Vintage Motorcar Festival kid’s activities (while supplies last).

Admission: $15 ($10 Friends of Chesterwood), free to children under 18.  American Icon passes which are available for admission to Chesterwood, Norman Rockwell Museum, The Mount and Hancock Shaker Village will also be honored for the Antique & Classic Automobile Show.  Memberships to Chesterwood and the National Trust for Historic Preservation are available at the gate. In addition to show admittance, visitors will be able to enjoy touring Daniel Chester French’s summer home and exploring the gardens and woodland walks. Self-guided tours of the buildings and grounds will be available.

All proceeds will support Chesterwood, a Site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.