How to get Cheltenham Festival 2026 tickets as official dates confirmed

Cheltenham Festival 2025 has finally come to close following four days of celebrations. Following the event, attendees and organisers are already looking ahead to what's instore for next year's fixture in 2026.

Although those that attended the festival this year would likely have rendered it a success, the attendance numbers might suggest otherwise. Style Wednesday saw the smallest ever gathering at the festival since the turn of the millennium with just 41,949 people in attendance.

Totalling up the attendance numbers on the rest of the days, which include 55,498 on Tuesday's opening day, 53,366 on St. Patrick's Thursday and a sold-out general admission crowd totalling around 68,500 for Gold Cup Day on Friday, that brings this year's total to roughly 219,000 spectators across all four days. While this sounds like a lot on paper, it's actually a marked drop compared to previous years.

2022's Cheltenham festival saw 280,672 people rock up to event with it being the first year that the event could be attended in full capacity following the Covid pandemic. 2025 saw a 22% drop compared to 2022, indicating that some fans weren't as keen to show up as they have been in previous years.

New CEO of Cheltenham Racecourse Guy Lavender was up front about this and believes the reason comes down to runaway accommodation prices in the local area. "It is a situation we are looking to address directly with Room To Race, launched in partnership with a local sports travel company, to provide more affordable hotel, ticket and travel packages for this festival and beyond," he stated.

New CEO of Cheltenham Racecourse Guy Lavender was up front about this and believes the reason comes down to runaway accommodation prices in the local area. "It