Please note: I am still awaiting confirmation from my contact. Thanks, Nesshttp://www.carsguide.com.au/car-news/top-gear-festival-sydney-will-go-ahead-31525#.VRsh7BuJjVgNo-one from Australia has confirmed it, but overseas reports claim Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond are coming – but the show won’t be called Top Gear.
The Top Gear Festival Sydney will go ahead in Australia and Jeremy Clarkson IS coming, even though he has been sacked by the BBC from the hit TV show.
BBC Worldwide has agreed that the show can go on but without BBC or Top Gear branding.
A BBC Worldwide spokesman said the shows would go ahead "so as not to disappoint the thousands of people around the world who have already purchased tickets," according to news agency Agence France Presse.
"These events will not however feature any BBC Top Gear branding or content. We believe this is a sensible approach in the circumstances," the AFP quoted a BBC Worldwide spokesman as saying.
It will be the first time all three presenters — Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May — will make the trek Down Under for the performance; the previous Australian Top Gear Live shows only had two of the three presenters, but always with Clarkson as the main host.
“It will be the first time all three presenters — Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May — will make the trek Down Under.„
News Corp Australia understands all four stakeholders stood to lose millions of dollars — and thousands of fans would have been entitled to refunds — if the show did not go ahead as planned.
However there is some confusion as to the dates for the Australian shows.
Overseas reports claim the Top Gear Live dates have been bumped from April 18 and 19, even though the tickets are still on sale for the original dates.
AFP reports the new shows will be held in Melbourne on July 18-19 and Sydney on July 25-26.
The tour dates that were cancelled in Norway, the first live show to be dropped, have reportedly been rescheduled for June 20-21.
Organisers called it "a great solution for the fans".
BBC Worldwide is one of four stakeholders behind the Australian event, along with the NSW Government, the Sydney Motorsport Park venue, and logistics company Brand Events.