By Brian Flanagan
Copyright irishmirror
Cheltenham have announced a raft of significant changes to their raceday experience for the coming 2025/26 season and next March’s National Hunt Festival.
Festival attendances plummeted in 2025 to just 218,839 (down from 230,000 in 2024) with the Wednesday’s Champion Chase card drawing just 41,949 racegoers, the lowest crowd at the Festival since the 1990s.
The slide in figures, from a high of 280,000 in 2022, is down to racegoers being hugely critical of the pricing of tickets, food and drink and accommodation in the Cheltenham region.
Cheltenham chief executive Guy Lavender promised to address the issue in the aftermath and on Tuesday the Jockey Club, who manage Cheltenham, have announced a series of changes off the track for the news season ahead.
The 2026 Cheltenham Festival takes place between March 10th and 13th.
The Jockey Club claim the ‘improvements’ will provide better value for money for all racegoers and ensure the Festival race programme is reflective of its status as the pinnacle of Jump racing.
Among the many changes are the slashing of the price of a pint of Guinness from £7.80 (€8.90) to £7.50 (€8.50) — a change that applies across all 16 racedays at Cheltenham.
The racecourse said in a statement: “We regularly benchmark our food and beverage prices alongside other major sports venues and comparable events.
“Despite being subject to the same increases in goods and services as all industries, we have taken the decision to reduce the price of draught beers and cider including Guinness for the 2025/26 season.
“A pint of Guinness will be reduced from its 2024/25 price of £7.80 to £7.50, a change that applies across all 16 racedays at Cheltenham.
“This reduction takes the price of a pint of Guinness back to 2022 levels. We have also made some minor reductions to the price of spirits and have introduced Prosecco at Cheltenham for the first time to offer more variety for racegoers.”
Additional discount windows for tickets have also been introduced, giving racegoers the opportunity to buy tickets at a reduced price for longer with a new Super Early Bird rate of £35 (€40) introduced for the Best Mate enclosure on Tues-Thurs.
Tickets for Gold Cup Day range between £50 (€57) and £149 (€170) depending on when customers purchase for which enclosure.
The cost of accommodation in the Cheltenham region is largely out of the racecourse’s control but the Jockey Club have acknowledged that it is a significant issue.
A new Room To Race partnership with travel operator Venatour, plans to offer more than 500 accommodation options at reduced rates for racegoers.
Other changes to plans for 2025/26 include changes to carparking, reduced capacity to 68,500 to 66,000 for each day of the Festival and removal of drinks restrictions in certain areas on the racecourse.
There will also be the return of Ladies Day on Wednesday and a redesign of the Tented Village and Bars.
Explaining why the changes have been made, Guy Lavender said: “Cheltenham is the jewel in the crown of Jump racing, and we want racegoers to feel they are stepping into somewhere truly special from the moment that they arrive.
“That is why over the coming seasons we’ll explore everything from racecourse layout, our enclosure structure and membership offerings, to hospitality and food and beverage options.
“The changes announced today mark another meaningful step forward, but it is always important to listen to your customers and evolve, and I can guarantee that there will be further changes for 2027.”
Lavender explained that, while today’s announcement relates solely to the experience off the track, the race programme for next year’s Cheltenham Festival remains under review.
He added: “Today is all about what we are doing for our racegoers this season and the changes being made to improve their experience and their enjoyment of our events.
“We made a number of changes to the race programme for this year’s Festival and we were really pleased with the results. While we won’t be making any significant changes to the racing itself next March, we are currently still reviewing certain elements and if any tweaks are made we will communicate those as soon as possible.
“Those attending major events expect a premium experience, from the welcome they receive as they approach the venue to the moment they leave. We made a number of changes last year and have continued to look at ways to improve both the range of options and quality of service and facilities for all of those who join us at Cheltenham.
“We know that value for money is one of the most important factors for people to consider when deciding which events to attend and that is especially the case at The Festival. I’ve said previously that value for money is not always driven by reducing prices and can often be achieved by improving the quality of the offering.
“There are certain things we can do on course like reducing the price of a pint and improving our facilities. However, there are other factors which influence people’s decisions on whether to attend, like hotel prices, that are not entirely within our control, which is why we are continuing to work with Venatour to secure better value for our visitors.
“We look forward to welcoming racegoers back when the season starts so they can see the enhancements the team have been busy making and as always welcome their feedback.”
