TANKFEST 2026

TANKFEST is, in my opinion, the most action-packed historic vehicle event in the UK with plenty of action for both the casual visitor and the enthusiast alike. Putting myself and my good friend Tony into the latter category we once again decided to attend all three days of the event, our visit broke down like this:

Day 1 (Friday 26th) – Access All Areas – this is really the VIP ticket with dedicated parking, fast-track entry, superb view into the Kuwait Arena from ‘the hill’ adjacent to the museum, undercover seating, all day, unlimited food and refreshments and more.

Day 2- Photo Area – a dedicated enclosure for us ‘snappers’ on the opposite side of the Kuwait Arena to the Access All Areas enclosure giving uninterrupted views of the arena action and down into the Tank Park and a good degree of intimacy with the running armour.

Day 3 Standard Sunday ticket – this allowed us a leisurely stroll around the living history encampments and stalls and a chance to listen to the talks on the Lecture Stage.

TANKFEST is also a great opportunity to see our Army in action and talk to our soldiers who operate and work with the current vehicles. This year was quite special in that us taxpayers had the first opportunity to see the latest Challenger tank, Challenger III, in action and mightily impressive it was.

For the family with children there is plenty to keep all occupied especially for the children with the reenactors being happy to show their weapons and other kit to the children as well as to the mums and dads and of course there were plenty of burgers and ice-cream to go around.

Just before we move on to my images let me say that this page is primarily intended as a vehicle for my photographs, the text is purely in support of 5the images and not intended as a detailed history. Any errors on this page are entirely down to me and are my responsibility.

Photography

Before we move on to the images I feel the need to say a few words about the photography. To begin with I am not a professional photographer as you will quickly see when you look at my efforts!

I use two Canon 90D cameras with two Canon EFS lenses these are a 18-135mmEFS and a 100-400mm. I use the default, at least I believe it is the default, JPG format. Yes, I am aware that RAW captures more data and therefore a more ‘detailed’ image and that a fixed lens generally yields sharper, higher-quality images than a zoom lens because  its simpler optical design is optimized for just one focal length, however the convenience of JPG for ‘processing’ and zoom for taking the mage for me outweighs the benefits of RAW and fixed lenses.

All of the arena shots were taken from just one of two locations these being the Access All areas seated stand on the top of the hill immedietaly outside the Museum and to the West of the area or the Photographic Area directly opposite the Access All Areas area to the east of the arena. Finally, I admit to using Photoshop on pretty much all my snaps and consider that I am not so much a photographer as an image make. Mostly all I do is adjust framing, exposure, contrast and colour saturation to produce when I consider to be an improved image

Living History Camp – WWI

All the living history displays were, as usual, excellent but for me the top marks must go to the guys representing the First World War. Were it not for the other 21st Century visitors wandering about one could almost think oneself back in 1915 / 16 once inside the camp. A particularly nice touch was the crashed aircraft, an SE5a if I’m not mistaken. The Mk IV and Whippet tanks also parked up in the camp once their arena battle reenactment was complete giving visitors the opportunity to get up close and personal with the vehicles and talk to their crews.

Battle – World War I

The first arena battle is set in the latter part of the Great War around the town of Amien in Northern France. Here on the 8th August 1918 the allies attacked, led by the British 4th Army (including the Australian and Canadian Corps and the French 1st Army. The preparations were meticulous and was one of the first major uses of combined arms with armour (500 tanks), aircraft(200)  and artillery (2,000 guns)  supporting the infantry. The battle reenactment used two Mk IV tanks these being a Male and a Female both excellent reproductions as well as a Medium Mark A Whippet. The Whippet is also a superb reproduction with some original parts and is finished to represent the well-known ‘Musical Box’. The Whippet was so named because it had a top speed of 8mph. twice that of the heavier Mk LIV tanks and was used to exploit breakthroughs of the frontline to attack the German rear areas. The original Musical Box caused havoc in the German rear areas during the battle with the Germans suffering around 400 casualties.

The arena reenactment starts with the British tanks in closed up the the German defences with the German soldiers retreating as they are overrun.

Battle – World War II

Our second arena battle takes us forward some 20 years or so to World War II and Northern France around the town of Falaise which gives its name to this action. Generally, know as the Battle of the Falaise Pocket this took place during the 2nd and 3rd weeks of August 1944, once again the German Army was in retreat squeezed as it was  by the American forces in the south and the British / Canadian forces in the north. The American and British / Canadian forces were fighting hard to meet up and surround the remains of German Army Group B forcing either their surrender or subjecting them to annihilation. The Allies had complete control of the air and the German forces were subjected to merciless attack from the air as well as sustained artillery fire by the end it was less of a battle and more of a slaughter.

Regardless the Germans fought hard to hold the Allied forces at bay while their comrades escaped often forming  hastily assembled combat groups from whatever troops were to hand, these groups were known as Kampfgruppen. Our reenacted battle features one such group with infantry, light artillery and armour which has lain in wait for the reconnaissance units of the advancing Allied forces…

Arena & Parked Vehicles

Among us enthusiasts TANKFEST is best know for the guest armour that it attracts. Of course, the Tank Museums own collection of running armour is superb  but the guest armour is invariably made up of vehicles not often seen running in the UK. This year was no different with the following vehicles catching my attention

  • Sherman M4A3E2 ‘Jumbo’
  • Sd.Kfz. 164 Nashorn
  • Sd.Kfz.142 Stug III Ausf. G
  • M24 Chaffee
  • Mk IV female (replica)
  • Mk IV male (replica)
  • Medium A Whippet  (replica)
  • M3 Grant

All the above appeared running in the Kuwait Arena. Equally impressive but only appearing as static exhibits were vehicles fro the Republic of Ireland:

  • Landsverk L60

The above are my own particular favourites among the guest armour and is not a full list of the vehicles attending TANKFEST 2026.

One unexpected display, including by the crew, was the Stug III throwing a track. While this was rather unfortunate it is something I have never seen before and the recovery did demonstrate something of what it would take to fix a track in action back in World War II.

M3 Grant

Show Guide

Coming soon!

And Finally…..

And so not unexpectedly TANKFEST 2026 was once again a splendid show filled with fascinating armour, both old and new, and lots of action filled with pyrotechnics.