Forza Horizon 6 Festival Playlist Guide – Festival Playlist Explained

This guide explains how the Festival Playlist works, how to unlock it, what rewards Series 1 Welcome to Japan offers, and what to expect when Series 2 Horizon Decades launches on June 18th, 2026.

Players who keep up week to week can earn extremely rare cars for relatively little effort, while those who skip seasons will miss out on certain rewards until they reappear in some other form.

What Is the Festival Playlist?

The Festival Playlist is Forza Horizon 6’s endgame content loop. Every month, the developers release a brand-new playlist packed with events, challenges, and reward cars that must be completed before the series ends.

Each monthly series is split into four weekly seasons that rotate through Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Spring. Within each week, a new challenge unlocks every day, so there is always something fresh to play. Unlocking the major rewards each week takes only about an hour of play.

Because the playlist is time-gated, missing a week means missing the cars and rewards locked behind that week’s challenges. The Horizon team has stated that you should be able to revisit older playlist cars in some form, but the exact system has not yet been shown.

For most players, the best approach is to complete the main story content first to avoid feeling overwhelmed. The Festival Playlist is designed to be a manageable side activity that sits atop the campaign, not a replacement for it. Though players will find that they need more than a week to complete the base game, this isn’t an option for everyone.

Why isn’t it counting my progress?

Typically, the Festival Playlist completions are relatively strict. Meaning they must be done in specific cars, typically less-tuned, so as not to exceed the Performance Class they were originally in. You can find the eligible cars by pressing the Start Button or Spacebar when on the Challenge in the Festival Playlist Challenge Selection.

Each challenge will have a handful of eligible Cars. Your job is to essentially trial and error with the cars and find which one works best for you. Typically, it’s intuitive which would be more successful, but sometimes a faster/higher-performance class isn’t the answer. You can tune the cars, but don’t exceed the class requirement, or it won’t be eligible. Usually, tuning them as much as possible makes the challenge easier.

Festival Playlist Rewards Overview

Rewards in the Festival Playlist are tracked through a points system. Completing events earns Series Points and Season Points that unlock cars at specific thresholds throughout each monthly playlist.

The headline rewards are exclusive cars that are not available anywhere else in the game during their release window. These often include brand-new cars to the Forza franchise and returning favorites that have not appeared since earlier Horizon titles. However, in FH6, this is supposedly going to change to allow for less ‘Fomo’ as their previous titles notoriously punished.

Reward Tiers

Players who stick with the playlist over time can stack rare cars without grinding repetitive content. The reward density is high relative to the time investment, which is why this system is the most efficient way to expand your garage with unique vehicles.

How to Unlock the Festival Playlist

The Festival Playlist starts locked for every new player and becomes accessible only after earning the Yellow Wristband. This wristband is the very first one in the game and ties directly into the main campaign introduction.

First Week of the First Festive Event Requires a Yellow Wristband

Once the Yellow Wristband is earned, the Festival Playlist tile becomes active in your main menu. Any player without this wristband will see the playlist as locked, regardless of whether a series is currently live.

After the First Week, the Requirements change

Starting in Week 2, the Festive Event returns new Events. The Trial requires the Gold Wristband to enter, so plan to progress further into the campaign before June 18th, 2026. Basically, the reasoning for the first week was that this requirement was not included because the game had just launched.

Series 1: Welcome to Japan

The first Festival Playlist series, titled Welcome to Japan, runs starting May 21st, 2026. The series contains a total of 180 Series Points across all four weekly seasons.

Monthly Series Rewards

The Mazda Furai is the standout reward of the series and is an iconic concept car that motorsport fans will recognize immediately. The 370Z returns to the franchise after a brief absence and slots in as a more attainable second milestone reward.

Weekly Series Rewards

There is no Trial in Series 1, which gives newer players extra time to progress through their wristbands. The Trial returns in Series 2 alongside other higher-tier weekly events.

Weekly Season Breakdown

Each week of Series 1 changes the in-game season and introduces a new set of reward cars. The weekly point thresholds are 15 and 30 points for the headline season cars.

Week 1: Summer

Summer also introduces the Weekly Time Attack as a new event type, bundled with PR Stunts and awarding a Wheelspin. This week’s Treasure Hunt is located in the Ohtani Region and is covered in more detail further down.

Week 2: Autumn

Autumn introduces the Weekly Job and Toge Online event types, both of which reward unique cars for relatively small time commitments. The S13 weekly challenge can be completed by anyone who has the starter car still in their garage.

Week 3: Winter

The Treasure Hunt is replaced this week with a Collectibles Challenge that has you smashing vending machines around the map. The Eliminator reward is more forgiving than in past entries, only requiring a top-30 finish rather than a podium.

Week 4: Spring

The Treasure Hunt returns in Spring after being swapped for Collectibles in Winter. The Toyota Starlet is one of the standout new additions for the month and is a highly anticipated reward for JDM fans.

Weekly Challenge Types Explained

The Festival Playlist mixes a variety of activity types so you never grind the same content twice. Most challenges are short and award a Wheelspin, points toward the playlist, or a unique car.

Treasure Hunt

The Treasure Hunt returns from Horizon 5 but works in a simpler way. You are given a photo clue and need to drive to the matching location in the specified region, then smash a treasure chest to claim the reward.

For Week 1 Summer, the Treasure Hunt is located in the Ohtani Region near the Kinkakuji Temple. Completing it rewards 100,000 credits and 3 points toward the Festival Playlist, and it also counts toward a Collection Journal challenge.

Seasonal Championships

Seasonal Championships are multi-race events that lock you into a specific car class or restriction. Winning the championship awards one of the headline weekly cars and a chunk of Series Points.

Each weekly season includes three Seasonal Championships, which together make up a significant portion of the available points. These are typically more difficult than other playlist events.

Weekly Time Attack and PR Stunts

The Weekly Time Attack is a new event type in Forza Horizon 6 that is bundled with the standard PR Stunts. Completing one of these rewards a Wheelspin along with playlist points.

Weekly Horizon Play Challenge

The Horizon Play Challenge asks you to earn a specific number of driving skills in a particular event type. The Summer challenge requires 3 great speed skills in Horizon Racing for the Ford Lightning reward.

Hide and Seek

Hide and Seek is a weekly online challenge that rewards higher tier cars for participating. The Summer reward is a Ferrari 296 GTB, which is one of the more desirable cars available through the playlist.

Monthly Rivals Event

The Monthly Rivals event is a single time trial that lasts the full month. For Series 1, the event takes place at the Sony Circuit in the Mazda Furai.

Photo Challenges

Photo Challenges return and ask you to take screenshots that match specific themes or include certain vehicles. These are quick to complete and offer easy points.

Cherry Blossom Badge and History Rewards

Completing at least one of every activity type during Series 1 rewards the Cherry Blossom Badge. This is a cosmetic reward themed around the Welcome to Japan series and is exclusive to players who finish the variety challenge in time.

History Rewards System

History Rewards are a brand-new feature in Forza Horizon 6 that tracks your lifetime Festival Playlist points across every series. Unlike the monthly rewards, History Rewards are not time-gated and will remain claimable as you accumulate points over the lifespan of the game.

The first History Reward is the Mazda Cosmo, which unlocks at 500 lifetime playlist points. Since Series 1 only contains 180 points, this reward will take multiple months to earn for most players.

What’s Coming: Series 2 Horizon Decades

Series 2 launches June 18th, 2026 and is titled Horizon Decades. The series will introduce 10 new and returning cars to the game alongside several new event types not available in Series 1.

Key Additions for Series 2

The Trial is the most notable returning feature for Series 2 and is a cooperative event that requires teamwork. Because it needs the Gold Wristband, players who only just unlocked the Festival Playlist should focus on campaign progress before June 18th.

Tips for New Festival Playlist Players

Frequently Asked Questions