Richmond Hill, ON. On the 13th and 14th of July, BMW M fans gathered at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park to celebrate BMW’s high-performance sub-brand, BMW M. With over 4,300 people in attendance, the first BMW M Festival in North America now ranks as the third-largest BMW M Festival globally, proving why Canada is the fourth largest market in the world for BMW M.
“The BMW M Festival was a huge success,” said Sebastian Beuchel, Director of Brand Management, BMW Canada. “We are so happy we were able to bring this event to the BMW M community in Canada. The M Festival allows us to bring our brand to life and enable people – be they customers, fans or enthusiasts – to interact and engage with all that BMW has to offer. We have the best fans in the world. Celebrating BMW M with them for the past two days was an experience I’ll never forget.”
On top of thrilling drive experiences – such as 240 kilometre-per-hour hot laps with BMW Factory Works drivers Jesse Krohn and Tom Blomqvist, drag races and autocross exercises – the event also featured entertainment and activities for the whole family to enjoy. BMW fans were able to visit the BMW M Festival Design Competition to see which unique, retailer-designed vehicle earned the “Best of the Fest” title, witness incredible feats of drag-and-drift skill on the skid pad, shop at the BMW Lifestyle Boutique, and see a collection of BMW race cars. Additionally, younger BMW fans were able to have a taste of BMW M performance at the Kids’ Lounge, riding BMW Baby Racers and BMW Kids Scooters, and racing BMW i8 Ride-Ons and BMW M4 remote control models. Evening performances by Serena Ryder and Felix Cartal (Saturday) and Dear Rouge and Jane’s Party (Sunday) wrapped up each adrenaline-filled day.
BMW M Festival Fast Facts:
- Tickets sold: 4,314
- Home of furthest-traveled participant: Vancouver, British Columbia
- Nationalities of participants: Canadian and American
- Number of BMW M vehicles at the event: 75
- Number of BMW M vehicles used for on-track experiences: 40
- Track experiences enjoyed: 3,054
- Number of hot laps completed over the weekend: 1,200
- Number of performance tires used at the event: 186
- Weekend total of customer cars in Show and Shine: 371
- Customer cars in parade lap: 394 (190 Saturday, 204 Sunday)
- Number of items purchased from the Lifestyle Boutique: 1,200+
BMW Group in Canada
BMW Group Canada, based in Richmond Hill, Ontario, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BMW AG and is responsible for the distribution of BMW luxury performance automobiles, Sports Activity Vehicles, Motorcycles, and MINI. BMW Group Financial Services Canada is a division of BMW Group Canada and offers retail financing and leasing programs and protection products on new and pre-owned BMW and MINI automobiles, as well as retail financing for new and pre-owned BMW Motorcycles. A total network of 50 BMW automobile retail centres, 22 BMW motorcycle retailers, and 30 MINI retailers represents the BMW Group across the country.
