Cheltenham Festival Attendance Controls Announced

In 2022, a striking 280,627 racegoers attended the festival, with 73,754 attending on St Patrick’s Day and 73,875 the next day. Gold Cup Friday Track director Ian Renton noted that such attendance was pushing the event's capacity to its limits.

In light of declining attendance figures across racecourses this year, which saw an average downturn of 18% from 2019, new measures have been set for the 2023 event with a cap of 274,000 attendees over four days and a daily limit of 68,500 to enhance visitor experience.

Reflecting on the new participant limits, Ian Renton shared his thoughts:

“It was truly a thrill to host a full house on Thursday and Friday, experiencing extraordinary races under perfect sunny skies. However, we recognize that even after considerable funding into upgrades, our facilities are under strain with these crowd sizes.”

“Notwithstanding the financial hit from reducing numbers, we will limit daily attendance to 68,500, understanding the significance of maintaining the festival as a delightful and appealing event in the long run.”

The cap on attendees will mostly affect Thursday and Friday of the festival since 2022's Tuesday and Wednesday welcomed crowds of 68,567 and 64,431 respectively.

This isn't an unprecedented measure for major horse meetings; Royal Ascot's capacity was similarly reduced this year, dipping over 14% to 44,100 from 2019's 51,500 attendees.

Limiting the number of attendees not only enhances the experience for those at the event but aids local authorities in managing public disturbances often reported during festival time.

Earlier discussions this year considered the introduction of a . five-day Cheltenham Festival Additional impact on daily attendance is yet to be determined, although an extra day is being debated and, if approved, could be launched by 2024, according to track director Ian Renton.