Following criticism from the audience, the Cheltenham Festival organizers are changing the venue and price of a pint.
The four-day meeting in March serves as the jumping racing calendar’s star, but there has been a marked decline in attendance, with some competitors complaining about the cost.
At all the course meetings this season, the price of a pint of draught beer or cider will be reduced by 30p to £7.50.
The Cheltenham Gold Cup’s opening day, which featured the Festival’s final day, was sold out this year, but some attendees complained of crowd overcrowding that day.
Although there was a lag of 56, 000 in attendance on the first three days of 2025, the daily capacity will be decreased from 68, 500 to 66, 000.
Drinkers have been particularly sore lately due to the high prices of alcohol, and especially Guinness, with an estimated 265,000 pints sold in the week.
According to course CEO Guy Lavender, “We regularly benchmark our food and beverage prices against those of other major sports venues and comparable events.”
We have chosen to lower the price of draught beers and cider for the 2025/26 season despite being subject to the same price increases in goods and services as all other industries.
He claimed that the price reduction would be in line with 2022.
Absent regulars cited overcrowding in previous years, as well as the cost of lodging, tickets, travel, and food and beverage as reasons for skipping the meeting, which was cut from three to four days in 2005.
According to reports that thousands have traveled to Spain to watch the action on big screens, including Benidorm and Tenerife, it costs less to spend a week in the sunshine than to attend the game.
A year ago, race organizers made changes that were supposed to enhance the experience of spectators and increase competition.
What other changes are planned?
What are Cheltenham’s ticket prices?
The 2026 Festival’s “super early bird prices” ranged from £35-£83 for the first three days of the event to £50-£99 for the Friday.
What kind of crowds did Cheltenham have this year?
The total attendance for the week was significantly lower than the record 280, 000 people who attended the first post-Covid meeting that was free for spectators in 2022.
The lowest daily attendance since 1993 was 41, 949.
Crowds in 2025 (2024 in brackets and then 2022)
Tuesday: 55, 498 (60, 181) 68, 567
Wednesday: 41, 949 (46, 771) 64, 431
Thursday: 53, 366 (53, 918) 73, 754
Friday: 68, 026 (69, 129) 73, 875
related subjects
- Horseback riding
Source: BBC
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