Spencer Hill Festival 2026

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From 3rd-6th September 2026, the largest Bud Spencer and Terence Hill fan festival took place once again in my old hometown of Ilmenau. Just like last year, I was able to display K.I.T.T. there again, since a U.S. car meet is also part of the event.
My buddy Tommy and his wife Anke were there again, too. This time, though, I didn't need to bring them along, because they were displaying a large Spencer/Hill mosaic themselves through their LEGO club, ILMBRICKS, and were therefore there as exhibitors all four days.
Due to time constraints, Saturday would once again be the only day I could attend. Experience has shown that this is the day with the most visitors. In addition, there was supposed to be another parade of all the American cars through Ilmenau in the afternoon.
The organizers had really pulled out all the stops once again: In addition to numerous other American cars, a movie lounge, fan shops, and exhibition areas in the festival hall, the outdoor area featured two stages, numerous food stands, a large area with tables and benches, a circus tent, bounce houses, carnival games, and bumper cars once again!
We arrived at the festival grounds near the Ilmenau Festhalle around 09:30 and set up K.I.T.T. again in the adjacent city park next to the Spencer/Hill buggies - plugging it in, installing the steering wheel, changing the license plate, setting up the voice prompts... the usual routine.
The rest of the American cars were parked this year in the lot in front of the festival hall and were open to the public. To make sure K.I.T.T.'s fans also had the chance to see him, I planned to display the car there as well for an hour starting at 15:00, before the parade starts.

In addition to Tommy and Anke, Steffen Anton - the Barney Stinson lookalike - was back as a host and didn't miss the chance to ride along in K.I.T.T. during the parade. I also ran into my buddy Toby and his wife Rebecca from our ZIDZ.COMmunity.

A few celebrity guests were also in attendance again. Among them was Cristiana Pedersoli, Bud Spencer's daughter and author of the book "My dad Bud". She also made a few cameo appearances in his films "Flatfoot in Egypt" and "Aladdin".
Ottaviano Dell'Aqua and Enzo Santaniello from the "Bulldozer" team in "They Called Him Bulldozer" were also guests again...
All three of them also stopped by to see K.I.T.T. and signed Tommy's LEGO mosaic picture.

By then, there was quite a bit of activity on the grounds. The festival offered a packed program, and K.I.T.T. was, as always, a crowd favorite.

We also took the opportunity to go for a ride on the bumper cars, take a "ride through the prairie" on the carnival ride of the same name, or just enjoy an ice cream 😀

At 13:00, the celebrity guests took the stage, and later they answered questions from fans and signed autographs.
Unfortunately, last year's voice actors weren't there this time, but at least Gerrit Schmidt-Foß (the German voice of Leonardo DiCaprio, Jim Parsons, Jeremy Renner, and Giovanni Ribisi) - who has also worked on the German version of "Don Matteo," among other projects - was still walking around the grounds. I didn't get to meet him myself this time, but Steffen took a photo with him.

At 16:00, the big American car parade was on the schedule. I parked K.I.T.T. in front of the festival hall an hour early, where people could see him even without a ticket.

Auch Cristiana und Enzo fuhren in einem Cabrio bei der Parade mit. Steffen, Tommy und Anke durften wieder bei mir mitfahren.

The parade was once again secured by the police, so for once I was able to drive with my scanner lights on, the gullwing, and myKITT.de license plate 😎
Thousands of Ilmenau residents didn't want to miss the spectacle and once again lined the streets! It was a truly amazing experience.

Even after the parade, I let K.I.T.T. stay parked in front of the festival hall for a little while longer before heading back to the festival grounds around 17:30.

At 18:00, we took advantage of the last opportunity of the day to watch the lavishly produced live Western show "4 Fists and a Gentleman" in honor of Bud Spencer at the festival hall.
Against a backdrop of changing digital scenes, a live performance took place - featuring Enrico, alias Muegge63, as a Bud Spencer lookalike, and the voices of Tilo Schmitz, Charles Rettinghaus, Dennis and Gerrit Schmidt-Foß, and several other well-known German voice actors.
A great show with a heartwarming finale in honor of Bud Spencer.

At 19:30, a drone once again captured the "big picture" of the crowd on the large festival grounds. Last year, I said goodbye right after that, but this year I wanted to stay until the evening concert.

Before the event began, Steffen, acting as the host, announced the winners of the costume and tattoo contests, as well as the winner of a meet-and-greet with Terence Hill.
There was also a wrestling show in which, completely unexpectedly and surprisingly, "Mücke" - who had initially seemed hopelessly outmatched - emerged as the winner in the end, despite his opponents' rule-breaking behavior 😉

At 21:30, the highlight of the evening finally began: The Dune Buggy Band from Italy played the greatest film score classics from the Spencer/Hill movies - sometimes accompanied by the special guests and fans.
The event concluded with a big fireworks display, though by then I was already on my way back to Erfurt, where I arrived around midnight.

Conclusion: The 2026 Spencer Hill Festival in Ilmenau was once again a huge success. More than 20,000 visitors came to my old hometown for the 25th anniversary, setting a new attendance record.
The next Spencer Hill Festival will take place in Templin from 2nd-5th September 2027.

Previously on 2026-08-30:
US car meeting Ohrdruf 2026

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