Forza Horizon 6 Festival Playlist Challenges Guide – Series 1 Summer

The very first Festival Playlist in Forza Horizon 6 is now live, kicking off Series 1 – Welcome to Japan with a packed set of events, reward cars, PR stunts and seasonal championships for players to dive into over the coming week.

Running from May 21st through until May 28th, the Summer season brings together everything from Japanese A-Class challenges and rally events through to the first Treasure Hunt and Photo Challenge of the game.

Better still, there are some solid reward cars available early on too.

As always, the aim is to stack up Festival Playlist Points by completing events across the map, unlocking the featured seasonal rewards before the next season rotation arrives.

Here’s everything included in the Forza Horizon 6 Series 1 Summer Festival Playlist, along with our recommended cars, tune setups in the form of share codes, and challenge tips. You may well need them. 

And if you’re looking for all the Forza Horizon 6 Festival Playlist Challenge Guides, we’ve got you sorted.

What Is The Forza Horizon 6 Festival Playlist?

If you’re new around these parts, the Festival Playlist is Forza Horizon 6’s rotating weekly challenge system, offering players the chance to complete seasonal events in exchange for Playlist Points, reward cars, Wheelspins and Credits.

Each Series lasts four weeks and is split into Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Spring editions, with Season 1 running between May 21st and June 18th 2026, after which Season 2 will open up. 

Completing events across the map increases your seasonal progress, unlocking exclusive rewards before the Playlist resets the following week.

At A Glance

• Series – Series 1 – Welcome To Japan
• Season – Summer
• Dates – May 21st – May 28th 2026
• Main Reward Cars – 1999 Toyota Altezza RS200 Z Edition, 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX MR
• Series Reward Cars – 2008 Mazda Furai, 2010 Nissan 370Z
• Easiest Playlist Points – Photo Challenge, Danger Sign, Speed Trap

Festival Playlist Reward Cars

This week’s seasonal rewards are tied to Playlist Point totals earned across the various activities available around the map.

• Points – 15 | Reward – 1999 Toyota Altezza RS200 Z Edition (Rare)
• Points – 30 | Reward – 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX MR (Epic)

Nothing too exciting to work towards this week, although an Evo is always nice.

There are also the Summer Season cars to go for too…

• Points – 60 | Reward – 2008 MAZDA Furai (Legendary)
• Points – 120 | Reward – 2010 Nissan 370Z (Common)

Event: Monthly Rivals

• Points: 4pts
• Circuit: Soni Circuit
• Car: 2008 Mazda Furai
• Reward: Super Wheelspin

No need to go mad here, a simple clean lap will suffice. However, driving a Furai, it’s tricky not to go a bit mad, no? Or is that just me? I will say the brakes on this thing are awesome..

Event: Weekly Challenge

• Points:
• Challenge: Gazoo Racer
• Car: 2022 Toyota GR86
• Reward: 25,000Credits

We need to drive the Toyota GR86, tuned by their motorsport division, Gazoo Racing. A nice handling car before being breathed on, this should be fun!

Step 1 – Own and drive the car. Simple enough! It will cost 28,000 credits.

Step 2 – Earn three stars at speed zones. Not, thankfully, three at a single attempt, but cumulatively.

Stage 3 – Earn 6 Speed Skills. Might be a challenge in base tune, but give it a whirl. I got mine at around 125 mph.

Stage 4 – Win a new event, the Hakone Nanamagari Touge Race. Basically, a one-on-one race down a mountain, at night. What could be better? Stock trim will be fine. Top tip: brake for the corners!

Event: Daily Challenges

• Points: 1pt x7
• Challenge: 7 Individual Challenges
• Car: Varies
• Reward: Credits

Daily challenges return, and as the name suggests, a new one is unlocked every day. Keep checking back to find out what you need to do.

Event: Photo Challenge

• Points: 2pts
• Challenge: #FestivalVibes
• Car: No Restriction
• Reward: Cat Meow Horn

Nice and easy this week, simply photograph a car at the Horizon Festival site. Pick your fave and snap away!

Event: Treasure Hunt

• Points: 3pts
• Challenge: Ohtani Region
• Car: No Restriction
• Reward: Credits

Simply follow the photo clue to find the chest. Or, as an added bonus, if you buy the Treasure map, the chest is shown on the map for you.

Event: Seasonal Championship – Road

• Points: 5pts
• Championship: Hot Like Summer
• Car: Retro Hot Hatch – C Class
• Reward: 1989 Toyota MR2 SC

Retro Hot Hatch has to mean a Civic Type R, especially in Japan, right? I chose a 2004 model, and breathed on it a bit, making share code : 171545596. A series of three races to win, as usual. Pro tip: take a photo at the start of each race to help with the Photo challenge in the game.

Event: Seasonal Championship – Street

• Points: 5pts
• Championship: Street Fighter
• Car: Modern Super Saloons – A Class
• Reward: 2021 Pagani Huayra R

A nice reward at last! Super Saloons to me say only one thing: a BMW M5 from 2009, and the share code is 350929793. Race tyres and twin turbo’d, what could be better?

Event: Seasonal Championship – Dirt

• Points: 5pts
• Championship: Throwback Throwdown
• Car: Retro Rally – B Class
• Reward: 2021 McLaren Sabre

Ooh, another nice car! Retro Rally, eh, what should we choose? An Evo, obviously!

I went with the Evo VI TME, and the share code is : 139147025. Get out there and get grubby! Oh, and the handbrake is your friend…

Event: Time Attack

• Points: 3pts
• Circuit: Sekibe Time Attack
• Car: Japan – A Class
• Reward: Wheelspin

A Japanese car and a time of 1:06 to beat – sounds like a job for an Evo. I cheated a bit here, I hate to admit, and used the Evo VIII MR “Welcome Pack” car, as it is perfectly set up for this. And it did a 1:00 dead from a standing start, so just right.

Event: Danger Sign

• Points: 2pts
• Location: Airfield Takeoff
• Car: Japan – A Class
• Reward: Wheelspin

Need to move fast to fly, and so a Supra, a GR Supra! The share code for mine is 138141833, and yes, the wing is completely necessary.

We need to clear over 213 metres to win. For best results, make sure you take as much run up as you can! Hit the ramp at above 120mph to succeed.

Event: Speed Trap

• Points: 2pts
• Location: Bamboo Hilltop
• Car: Japan – A Class
• Reward: Wheelspin

As this is a dirt road, and we need to hit 110 mph, jump back in the Evo from the first stunt. Simples! Approaching from the left seems a tad easier.

Event: Horizon Play Racing : Floor It!

• Points: 3pts
• Event Name: Floor It!
• Car: No Restriction
• Reward: 2003 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning

Can you get three Great Speed SKills in Horizon Open racing? Lets hope so, as this is what we need to do. It can be any class or car, so I can’t give you a tune, but give a whirl.

Event: Hide & Seek

• Points: 2pts
• Event Name: 5 vs 1
• Car: No Restriction
• Reward: 2022 Ferrari 296 GTB

Play Hide and Seek. Same as last time. Win or lose, it doesn’t matter: just complete the game.

Fastest Ways To Earn Playlist Points This Week

If you’re looking to unlock the first seasonal rewards quickly, you may want to prioritise the easier activities first. If that is indeed the case, we recommend ticking off the Photo challenge first, and follow that with the Treasure Hunt. Follow that with the Speed Trap and Danger Sign, before filling your boots with the slightly lengthier Seasonal Championships. 

This should allow you to stack up a healthy hit of progress through the Playlist before even touching the longer Seasonal Championships.

Follow our lead from up above and you should find yourself powering through the Festival Playlist challenges in Forza Horizon 6 for Series 1 Summer. After that, we’ll have Autumn (win a Nissan Skyline ‘97), Winter (Subaru STI S209, and Spring (Toyota Starlet ‘96). We’ll be back with guides for each of those as the weeks progress. 

Once Season 1 is over, we move into Season 2 and the Horizon Decades. 

As always, we’d love to hear if any of our cars and tunes helped you out, so feel free to get involved in the comments. 

And remember, you’ll need a copy of Forza Horizon 6 in your digital library. It’s available through Game Pass if you prefer. Just head to the Xbox Store and enjoy a download.