Monterey Car Week 2026 arrives in the second week of August as the most storied stretch on the automotive calendar. More happens in those days than anyone can reach alone, so we've curated this selection of incredible events for our readers, followers, and clients.
These four events deserve your undivided attention. One is a drive. One is an evening that cannot be bought on the day. One is among the largest gatherings of Italian machinery in the world. And one is the week's defining night, the entire fairgrounds given over to cars and the largest concert of the week. Space at each is finite, and we would rather our readers claim it early than watch it close.
We want you there with us to enjoy this week of automotive excellence, so consider this your invitation to join in.
(Featured Image by Nic Coury)
Rally to Monterey Car Week, August 10 to 12
Most people arrive in Monterey. A smaller group drives there, and the difference in how the week feels is not subtle.
Luxury Rally Club runs its Rally to Monterey Car Week from Los Angeles to Monterey across three days, August 10 through 12, landing you on the Peninsula before the crowds thicken and the traffic on Highway 1 turns into a parking lot with a view. LRC has been doing this at a level that is hard to overstate. Past runs have included a police-escorted crossing of Los Angeles to Jay Leno's garage and a full buyout of The French Laundry for a private dinner, which tells you roughly where the bar sits.
The rally is by invitation, and the RSVP form is the way in. If you have been thinking about it, submit now rather than in three weeks.
The Preserve Concours & Cocktails, August 13
This is the one I would protect on the calendar.
For one evening each year, the gates of the Santa Lucia Preserve open, and 20,000 private acres of Carmel Valley hills become the setting for a garden party with a concours lawn attached. Now in its eighth year, presented by Luxury Rally Club, it remains the rare Car Week evening where the cars are the starting point rather than the whole show.
A few things worth knowing. It is a driving event, not a spectator one, which means you bring your own car and take a place on the lawn, and all display vehicles go through approval first. The food is treated with the same seriousness as the machinery, with a roster of renowned chefs and an open bar of high-end wine and spirits behind a claim to the single best meal served anywhere during Car Week.
Tickets are $850 per person, all-inclusive, and attendance is by invitation.
Concorso Italiano, August 15, Plus The Paddock the Night Before
Forty-one years in, Concorso Italiano is still the Saturday that Italian car people organize their entire week around.
It runs from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 15, on the Bayonet Black Horse Golf Course above Monterey Bay, and the range is what keeps it interesting. Cars, motorcycles, motorbikes, scooters, four decades of Italian design in one field, with a Global Exotics section set aside for notable machinery from everywhere else. General admission is $250 plus fees. Children 13 and under get in free with a paying adult, which makes it one of the few genuinely family-friendly tickets of the week.
Come up a day early for The Paddock Monterey on Friday, August 14, from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Second year running, and the premise is refreshingly open: any interesting car, truck, or motorcycle, any country, any model year. Classics parked near new metal, food trucks, a VIP Club option, and none of the formality of the concours lawns. Admission is $100 plus fees.
Monterey Motorsports Festival, August 15
The Monterey Motorsports Festival takes over the Monterey County Fairgrounds from 5 to 11 p.m., the largest open-to-the-public gathering of the week. One Night, One Culture, All Cars is the billing, and it holds up. Rare builds and iconic machines share the grounds with custom culture, a dedicated JDM section, Mecum's classics and muscle cars, and an off-road corner anchored by the Russell Baja 911 and the street-legal Scarbo Hyper Truck that Top Gear recently put on camera.
duPont REGISTRY comes in as a sponsor this year, with Main Stage programming hosted by editor-in-chief Charles Bradley and a curated display of collector cars on the grounds. Kimera Automobili is the 2026 featured marque and will pull the covers off the K-39 Stradale and its race counterpart, with founder Luca Betti presenting live, and the Automotoclub Storico Italiano returns for a third year of patronage, still the first Car Week event ever to earn it. Add a hypercar and supercar parade rolling in from Concorso Italiano, a 60-year salute to the Pininfarina Alfa Romeo Duetto, and appearances from the likes of Lamborghini legend Valentino Balboni.
Don't believe me? Take it from Cristina Cheever, Chief Marketing Officer of duPont REGISTRY Group: “Monterey Car Week is where the world’s most extraordinary automobiles, passionate collectors and enthusiasts, and luxury brands come together to celebrate craftsmanship and innovation.”
Then the fairgrounds turn into the largest concert of the week, The Sound of Car Week, with David J, Dreya V, Me & U, and Side Quest across two stages, plus an expanded Family Fun Zone if you are bringing everyone along. General admission covers every display, the entertainment, the parades, and the concert. VIP packages are available.
Run them together and the week has a shape. You drive up from Los Angeles rather than flying into the noise. You spend Thursday evening on private land that almost nobody sees the rest of the year.
