It was full speed ahead for Red CentreNATS, the ‘Ultimate Festival of Wheels’, which had its biggest year yet over the weekend, welcoming 13,484 attendances and a record 1,008 over the three-day event.

Held in Alice Springs, the event saw huge increases of people travel to the Red Centre, with attendees from South Australia up by 165 percent, Western Australia up 170 percent, and Queensland up 50 percent.

With record entry numbers and huge increases in the number of people travelling from interstate to attend, Northern Territory Major Events Company (NTMEC) chief executive officer Tim Watsford said this has been an amazing year for Red CentreNATS.

“This is especially impressive when you consider the difficulties in place when it comes to travel at the moment,” Watsford said.

NTMEC delivers the famous motoring event on behalf of the Northern Territory Government in partnership with Summernats. The NT Government has signed another four-year agreement with Summernats to secure the event until at least 2025.

“The future of the event looks incredibly exciting – we opened entries for next year on Saturday, and already we’ve seen 233 people sign up

“This is the kind of event that lures people back year after year, and we have a growing army of fans keen to make the pilgrimage to the Red Centre, where they help boost our economy.”

Red CentreNATS attracts thousands of entrants and spectators each year and is the only place in Australia where you can legally drive highly modified vehicles on the streets, thanks to a special permit system.

“The announcement that the NT Government has committed to the festival for another four years has given hope and optimism for the future,” Summernats co-owner Andy Lopez said.

“We’ll be back next year – bigger, shinier and noisier.”