It is with a heavy heart that we have to cancel the Classic Days 2024 at Green Park in Düsseldorf today. The Classic Days association, with its many members, the many volunteers, the route marshals and the organisation management of the big colourful festival, has unfortunately not yet received any - much needed - planning figures, specifications and approval details.

On the one hand, we are sure that these authorisations could still come at a later date, but we do not know their content, current regulations and detailed requirements.

The Classic Days are considered a ‘major event’ – because we have over 5,000 visitors at the festival. As a result, we have been subject to safety concept requirements and certain bureaucratic procedures in authorities for approval and implementation, building applications and building inspections for many years. As of yesterday evening, 4 June 2024, we still lack comprehensive answers from the authorities. But we are just under 7 weeks away from the Classic Days, which we have planned for 2 – 4 August 2024.

Against the backdrop of necessary guidelines but also sheer overarching bureaucracy, we can only give the news today that there can be no Classic Days 2024 – because, as always, we want to show colourful, diverse and content-rich Classic Days.

We are very sorry about this news – the cancellation of the Classic Days 2024 – and it breaks our hearts. But the Classic Days are also a ‘promise of quality’ with lots of decorations, beautiful moments, authentic emortions in a big colourful automotive summer garden party. We cannot guarantee these aspects because other content (over)demands us.

The voluntary work that the Classic Days have always been as a festival is put under considerable and almost unmanageable strain here and goes to the pits for an extended ‘briefing’ by the pit lane.

We have to take a break

We can already see which topics we would not be able to implement by the first weekend in August, because we would have to be overly involved with, among other things, a cannabis offences ordinance or acute danger prevention scenarios and details in target figures to fulfil official requirements.

These are important and certainly correct requirements, but the timing cannot be realised. Actually, from now on our time and attention should only ‘belong’ to the realisation, the design, the participants and visitors. That would make us a good host.

We cannot live up to this claim, visual and content-related deficits would be unavoidable and it would not be the Classic Days that everyone knows and for which we have been campaigning for 19 years and 16 festivals.

We will shortly be informing all participants, all clubs, all country club bookers and ticket purchasers – including those who have ordered the VIP packages for the ‘Garden Lounge’ – of all further details. We will contact you about the planned processes and procedures for bookings already made and tickets already purchased.

We all very much regret that we will not be able to experience Classic Days 2024 together with everyone – we hope for understanding, patience and goodwill. We thank you for your attention and solidarity.