Danmark’s fastest car event returns after cancellation

Thousands gathered at Padborg Park this weekend for Danmarks Hurtigste Bil (Denmark’s Fastest Car), an annual motorsport festival that was scrapped last year due to venue access issues, Danish broadcaster DR reports.

Event director Tom Gaarde Pedersen, who also heads Padborg Park, confirmed record attendance, forcing organizers to expand camping capacity. “We sold more campsite spots than we had space for, so we had to build out the area,” he said.

The three-day event, running through Sunday, features drag racing, topless waitresses, striptease performances, and scantily clad women washing cars in soapy water—elements Pedersen acknowledges as a throwback to earlier eras. “I don’t think most men mind seeing a strip show,” he told DR, while attendee Camilla Kristensen, who traveled from Hjørring, added, “The atmosphere, the cars, and yes, the stripping—though I’d hoped for male strippers too. Women do it just as well.”

Pedersen dismissed concerns about the event’s environmental impact, arguing that climate considerations should focus elsewhere. “We all need to think about the climate, but there are bigger targets than a once-a-year car meet,” he said, though he left open the possibility of electric vehicles eventually dominating the races. “If that’s where the future’s headed, then so be it.”

The festival’s mix of high-octane racing and retro entertainment has drawn crowds seeking an experience Pedersen calls increasingly rare: “There aren’t many motorsport festivals left in Denmark. People come for something you don’t find just anywhere—like pulling up your old lawn tractor, hauling a bench behind it, and cracking open a beer.”