27,000 visitors descend on Ignition Festival as event takes over the SEC

Twenty seven thousand visitors descended on Glasgow at the weekend as the Ignition Festival of Motoring ‘took over’ the Scottish Event Campus (SEC).

Huge crowds of spectators gathered at the venue as the event arrived for its second year of “high octane motorsport”, which included drifting and racing by classic F1 vehicles and modern supercars.

It was one of the busiest weekends for the SEC this year as Canadian superstar Celine Dion also performed at the SSE Hydro on Saturday night for her first Scottish concert in 20 years.

The management of two high-profile events in the space of a single weekend was a big challenge for the SEC – given the logistics of the motoring event meant the entire campus was given over to vehicles.

Director of Operations at the SEC, Mark Laidlaw, said: “Running two large events simultaneously is always a challenge but having one event taking up the entire campus and the other being an international superstar is on another level.

“The success of the two events is a true reflection on our team who have been absolutely relentless in ensuring customer satisfaction, security and overall success of the events. The teamwork between organisers, our internal team and our partners has been great and we look forward to many more busy and fun filled weekends here at the SEC.”

The festival, which is the biggest motoring show in Scotland, entertained thousands of visitors as they experienced a purpose-built race track, the greatest collection of F1 cars to ever come to Scotland, Driftland, the ride and drive zone amongst many more incredible features.

High-profile motoring celebrity appearances including stunt driver, Terry Grant, BTCC driver, Gordon Shedden and renowned F1 broadcast journalist, Lee McKenzie, allowed motorsport fans to fully immerse themselves in the motoring world.

On Saturday evening, thousands of music lovers were spellbound by Canadian superstar Celine Dion in the SSE Hydro. Playing her first concert in Scotland for 20 years, she delighted her fans with classic hits including My Heart Will Go On and Think Twice alongside a variety of covers by Cyndi Lauper and Michael Jackson.