Monterey Motorsports Festival 2026 is making its music play explicit. The Car Week event lands at the Monterey County Fairgrounds on August 15, 2026, and its newly announced entertainment lineup puts SIDEQUEST, ME NÜ, Dreya V and David J into the evening program.
This is not a standard field-and-tent music festival, and that is exactly what makes it interesting. Monterey Car Week already runs on speed, money, design and spectacle. MMF is turning that after-dark energy into a live soundtrack, with country, electronic and DJ sets threaded through a one-night festival built around cars, culture and the closing stretch of the week.
Essential Details for Monterey Motorsports Festival 2026
- Dates: August 15, 2026
- Location: Monterey County Fairgrounds, Monterey, California, United States
- Tickets: Available through montereymotorsportsfestival.com
- Time: Official event listing runs 5PM-11PM
- Nearest airport: Monterey Regional Airport
The Sound Of Car Week
SIDEQUEST headline the night from 9:45 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.. The DJ duo, made up of social media personalities Cale Saurage and Hootie Hurley, has built a fast live profile around high-energy electronic sets and the breakout track “Shake.” For MMF, they are the obvious closing act: loud, social-first and engineered for a crowd that wants the night to feel less like a trade show and more like a party.
ME NÜ take the 8:45 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. slot with a live DJ set. The booking keeps the evening in electronic territory before the headliner, and the official announcement positions the duo as one of the most anticipated acts of the night.
Dreya V performs from 7:45 p.m. to 8:45 p.m., bringing a festival-style electronic set into the heart of the program. That placement makes sense: the crowd will already be shifting from daytime car culture into night-mode production.
David J opens the announced run from 7:00 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.. The country artist has passed 119 million career streams, according to the official announcement, and his modern Nashville lane gives the evening a different first gear before the DJs take over.
Why This Lineup Fits Monterey
The setting does half the work. Monterey Motorsports Festival is built around rare cars, custom builds, hypercars, food, drinks and lifestyle activations. Dropping live music into that world is not decoration. It is how the event turns from a showcase into an actual night out.
The lineup is compact, not thin. Four artists can look modest next to a three-day music festival poster, but MMF is a single-evening event from 5PM to 11PM. A clear run from David J into Dreya V, ME NÜ and SIDEQUEST is the right scale for the format.
The pitch is specific. “The Sound of Car Week” is a useful frame because it does not pretend this is detached from the automotive side. The cars are still the center of gravity. The music is the reason to stay after the sun drops.
What To Know Before You Go
Expect a mixed crowd. This is for collectors, builders, car-week visitors, locals and people who simply want a big Saturday night in Monterey. The music program needs to work for all of them, which explains the country-to-electronic arc.
Arrive before the evening shift. Gates open at 5PM, while the announced music run begins at 7:00 p.m.. Getting in early gives you time to see the car side before the entertainment schedule tightens.
Plan Monterey logistics now. Car Week is busy by design. Parking, rideshare timing and hotel availability can become the real headline if you wait too long.
Watch for schedule updates. The official release gives the main entertainment slots, but motorsports activations and on-site programming can still shift as the event gets closer.
Final Call
Monterey Motorsports Festival 2026 now has a defined soundtrack: David J to start, Dreya V and ME NÜ to raise the tempo, and SIDEQUEST to close the night. For a one-evening Car Week event, that is a clean, high-impact arc.
Secure your tickets at montereymotorsportsfestival.com.
