‘A special day - but I doubt we'll be able to come again'

Alex Ross talks to Cheltenham punters trying to hurdle these cash-strapped times blamed for plunging festival attendances

The cost of living crisis is being blamed for a drop in attendance at the Cheltenham Festival this year. The festival, the highlight of the National Hunt racing calendar, attracts tens of thousands of people to the Regency town on the edge of the Cotswolds every year.

It is matched by a rise in local hotel rates, with visitors charged an average of £3,000 for a four-night stay. The cheapest hotel room on the eve of the festival this year cost £399 for one night. This year was the 100th anniversary of the festival’s climax, the Cheltenham Gold Cup – and on Friday, it was a sell-out with around 68,500 at the venue.

But across the first three days of the event, which included the rebranded “Style Wednesday” (formerly Ladies Day), attendance was down 7 per cent compared to last year. It continued a trend: last year’s overall festival attendance was also down on the record set in 2022, although attendance was capped at 68,500 in 2023 to prevent overcrowding.

Ian Renton, managing director of event organiser Jockey Club Racecourses, told The Independent the festival had been affected by the economic situation in the UK.

He said: “The Cheltenham Festival remains the pinnacle of jump racing and a marquee event in the sporting and social calendar, but we and all businesses operating in the leisure and hospitality industry know only too well the huge effect that the ongoing cost of living crisis is having on consumer behaviour. Whilst we’ve seen slightly lower numbers in terms of general admission this week, hospitality sales continue to go from strength to strength.”