The Horizon Holidays are coming to Mexico as Forza Horizon 5 celebrates the festive season with the new Festival Playlist series beginning on Thursday, December 8.
Look out for new reward cars, the return of Secret Santa improved for this year, and Evolving World changes such as the Horizon Wonderland in Mulegé and the Ice Rink Stadium featuring a hockey-rink in the middle of the arena.
It’s undoubtedly been an exciting first year at Horizon Mexico! Check out the above infographic for the complete visual summary of everything we’ve added to Forza Horizon 5 from launch through to the Donut Media update.
[h2]Game Fixes and Release Notes[/h2]
Available to download beforehand on Tuesday, December 6 is the next Forza Horizon 5 update with fixes to community reported issues.
Here’s some of the most notable changes that you can expect:
- We have introduced support for Japanese and Traditional Chinese VO. You can switch to any of the available VO pre-sets under “Language Select” in the Settings menu.
- An EventLab build point has been added to the Horizon Stadium.
- Accolades tasking players to use Vinyls would previously not be unlocked as usage would not increment your progress. This has now been fixed.
- The Tuning Setup and Livery applied to a car before the creation of a Super7 event will now be reflected in the published Challenge Card as intended.
- Any tuning adjustments made to your selected car in Donut Media Chapter 2 now persists onto later chapters.
- Previously the stat tracking for areas discovered would increase beyond the total number of findable areas in the game. This has been fixed.
- We’ve fixed the issue which caused liveries to be misaligned when a widebody kit is applied to the 1992 Honda NSX-R.
- Players can now paint the roof of the 2010 Forsberg Racing Toyota Gumout 2JZ Camry Stock Car.
As always, the full list of fixes and improvements will be
published in our release notes once the update is available to download. Our team is closely monitoring your Forza Horizon 5 feedback as new fixes are developed and introduced in each series update.
Here’s where you can stay up to date on the issues that we’re currently investigating.
[h3]Secret Santa[/h3]
Secret Santa returns to Forza Horizon 5! We’ve tweaked and adjusted how it works based on your feedback from last year, so you’ll find it easier to unlock that snazzy top-tier car and who knows, if you give enough gifts then the holiday season may well start before you expect it!
Available until January 5, 2023, Secret Santa is a special Horizon Holidays event that challenges the entire community to cooperate and share the festive joy by sending gifts to each other. Gifts can be sent through the Forzathon Shop and using the Gift Drop feature.
While only one car from the Forzathon Shop can be gifted per week, you can gift as many cars as desired through Gift Drops.
Every gift sent contributes to the progression bar which includes two unmissable rewards, so don’t miss out! Once the community reaches the points threshold, the reward will be immediately sent out and can be redeemed through the in-game Message Center.
[h3]Horizon Wonderland[/h3]
Visit the Horizon Wonderland in Mulegé, a holiday-themed marketplace where you can access the Forzathon Shop and enjoy the festive makeover. Be sure to look out for a large gift box by the church, as that means you have a present to collect.
You’ll also find holiday decorations across Mexico including Christmas trees, lights and candy canes, as well as Snowman collectibles, which are now more plentiful compared to last year. We’ve even hidden some at Player Houses. Find them to complete the weekly Photo Challenges.
Don’t forget to visit the Ice Rink Stadium! The Horizon Stadium is fully transformed for the holidays with an icy playground to slide around with your friends, a hockey puck, and festive decorations.
[h3]Forzathon Shop Sales[/h3]
Did someone say Tommy Bargains? Cor Blimey, it’s another round of unmissable deals that you won’t find anywhere else. The Forzathon Shop will be your one-stop-destination to a selection to significantly discounted high-performance cars and seasonal cosmetics.
Here’s when you can look out for those sales:
- Christmas Day Sale: From 2:30 PM UTC on Dec. 24 until 2:30 PM UTC on Dec. 26.
- New Year’s Sale: From 2:30 PM UTC on Dec. 31 until 2:30 PM UTC on Jan 2.
Remember that you can gift one car to a friend or another player during each week of Horizon Holidays through the Forzathon Shop, so make the most of these sales and boost that community gifts bar!
[h3]Festival Playlist[/h3]
Get ready for a holiday-themed Festival Playlist with special events to mark the season.
For those who missed them last year, we’re bringing back these festive themed clothing items and car horns throughout the Horizon Holidays:
Clothing Items
- Snowman Outfit
- Sad Snowperson Head
- Happy Snowperson Head
- Gingerbread Outfit
- Santa Outfit
- Elf Outfit
- Elf Hat
- Holiday Sweater
- Santa Hat
- Red Nose
- Reindeer Antlers
Car Horns
- Jingle Bells
- Sleigh Bells
- Merry Christmas
- HoHoHo
- Deck the Halls
You’ll also find another opportunity to unlock the song “Language” by Porter Robinson for your Horizon Mixtape radio dial. There will be opportunities to unlock the other previously released 10-Year Anniversary songs in the future, stay tuned.
Here’s a look at the new and returning cars available to unlock throughout the Horizon Holidays:
2020 Lamborghini Sián Roadster
The unlock requirements of this car remain a mystery. Some say the holidays are a season of gifts and joy, though we’re unsure of how such wisdom is supposed to help you drive this incredible supercar.The 2020 Lamborghini Sián Roadster is the Italian manufacturer's first open-top hybrid supercar to feature a supercapacitor. With electrified intensity, the incomparable 800-horsepower V12 that powers the Sián Roadster is at the top of its class. It’s the most powerful Lamborghini engine yet, capable of 217mph, while its unique and innovative use of a supercapacitor takes hybrid technology to the next level. It also has futuristic design features, such sculptured contours, distinct aero wings and aluminum details painted in Oro Electrum, a special type of gold paint chosen by Lamborghini to indicate their hybrid cars. It all comes together for an incredible all-wheel-drive supercar built with meticulous attention to detail, very fine materials and an ultralight body. It even has unique interior accents celebrating the very first Lamborghini Miura. While only 19 models are planned for the real world, the Horizon Festival has ensured that everyone who feels the holiday spirit over the coming series might just find the 2020 Lamborghini Sián Roadster under their garage’s festive tree in Forza Horizon 5.
2022 CUPRA UrbanRebel Racing Concept
This car will be distributed for free to everyone who plays Forza Horizon 5 during the Horizon Holidays series. It can be redeemed in the Message Center through Jan. 5, 2023. Also available to purchase from the Autoshow for 2 million credits.Step behind the wheel of an all-electric racecar with a truly rebellious spirit. It’s coming to the real world in 2025 as a road-going car, however you can experience the CUPRA UrbanRebel Racing Concept first before anyone else in Forza Horizon 5. Designed, developed and built in Barcelona, Spain, this racecar mixes electrification, sustainability and performance integrating virtual aesthetics to create a design language for the future generation of electric vehicles. CUPRA said they wanted to inject a gamification look to the racing car, and they certainly achieved it, with a livery surface that adapts and changes as the light moves across it, as well as a large spoiler with integrated lights that nods to the racecars of the virtual world. So, it looks incredibly unique, but how does the UrbanRebel Racing Concept perform? It delivers 335 bhp of continuous performance with a peak of 429 bhp! It can also reach 0-62mph in only 3.2 seconds. Sounds like a perfect match for the Horizon Festival, where you can drive this unconventional concept car early and set your fastest lap time in Forza EV, as well as put it to the test in dedicated Seasonal PR Stunts.
1971 AMC Javelin AMX 
Earn 20 PTS during the Summer “Wet” Season on the Horizon Holidays Festival Playlist. Available from Dec. 8 – Dec. 15.Those huge fender arches? They’re to fit oversize race tires. The long deck? That’s for the 401 CID, Trans-Am-inspired V8 packing a four-barrel carburetor capable of 330 horsepower. From the crease running down the flanks to the quad taillights hooded by a ducktail spoiler, the AMC Javelin AMX was one of the more audacious pony cars to drive for dominance on the drag strip and the race circuit at the height of the muscle car era. Despite odds stacked up against the small, independent automaker in the face of the Big Three, the Javelin and its AMX derivative smoked them in Trans-Am racing, taking the checkered flag in eight of the ten races of the 1971 season, with Mark “Captain Nice” Donahue behind the wheel of many of them. The Javelin AMX distilled the racing success into one of the most exciting, and certainly one of the most distinctive, muscle cars to rumble out onto the scene. Whether you line up for a quarter-mile or swap paint with its Trans-Am rivals out on the track, the coupe from Kenosha is a potent competitor.
1958 Plymouth Fury
Earn 20 PTS during the Autumn “Storm” Season on the Horizon Holidays Festival Playlist. Available from Dec. 15 – Dec. 22.Only a car with the beautiful lines of the 1958 Plymouth Fury could have inspired the kind of obsession expressed in Stephen King’s “Christine.” While this Fury may not be possessed, this much chrome, this much tailfin, and a 305hp Golden Commando V8 under the hood are worthy of close appreciation. Sure, this Fury is a huge hunk of glistening metal that is best driven in a straight line, and it may lack braking and turning performance, but who cares? The Fury is gorgeous, and it represents an era where cars were designed to be alluring and gas prices were not an issue. Besides, once you feel the float of this boat going down the straightaway, winning may become less of a priority.
2013 Cadillac XTS Limousine
Earn 20 PTS during the Winter “Dry” Season on the Horizon Holidays Festival Playlist. Available from Dec. 22 – Dec. 29.One advantage this Cadillac XTS Limousine has is its length. You are not going to just fly by this vehicle. It’s long. When toting around VIPs, you need a limousine and that’s where this rig comes in. Plunk down in its luxurious interior and watch a movie as the driver puts in a few laps or use it as a canvas for an elongated livery. With 300 horsepower in the stock version – and don’t forget you can upgrade this thing with a NASCAR engine – it’s no slouch. If you want to practice your cornering skills, the Limo will give you a new perspective on watching out behind you. Simply put, this is one hulking and fancy piece of machinery that’s certain to get you across Mexico in style and raise a fair share of eyebrows along the way. All the more reason to have it in your Forza Horizon 5 garage we say.
1970 AMC Rebel 'The Machine'
Earn 20 PTS during the Spring “Hot” Season on the Horizon Holidays Festival Playlist. Available from Dec. 29 – Jan. 5.AMC was notorious for taking on the big three in its own way. When it came to the muscle car market, the AMC approach was unique with performance that could give the big boys a run for their money. “The Machine” came with a flamboyant red, white, and blue paint scheme that made as much of statement as its 340-horsepower V8. From the factory this Rebel was poised as a street legal drag race car and could run mid-14s in the quarter mile. The distinctive ram-air hood scoop and hood-mounted tachometer contributed to the car’s performance-minded attitude. “The Machine” was no poseur; developed in collaboration with Hurst Performance, it could put down the power via the “Twin-Grip” Positraction style differential. AMC always did things delightfully different, and this definitive muscle car is a perfect example.
[h3]What’s Next[/h3]
The Horizon Holidays will seamlessly lead into the next series, #FORDzathon with no new update to download. This means that you will see unreleased content from the next series before it’s officially available to unlock in-game. This can happen from time to time when we combine update files to allow us to stay ahead of schedule with bringing you future series updates.
#FORDzathon will introduce a Festival Playlist themed around Ford events and rewards, as well as two new to Forza MG cars and three Renault cars returning to Forza:
- 2020 MG #20 MG6 XPower
- 2021 MG MG6 XPower
- 2010 Renault Clio R.S.
- 2016 Renault Clio R.S. 16 Concept
- 2010 Renault Megane RS 250
We’ll share more details about these cars, including the unlock criteria, in our #FORDzathon blog on January 5, 2023.
Thanks to all our players for another fantastic year at the Horizon Festival. From the extreme tracks of Forza Horizon 5: Hot Wheels to a celebration of our Horizon 10-Year Anniversary, these past twelve months have been unforgettable, and we’ll be recapping it all in our 2022 Forza Year in Review later this month.
