The Cheltenham Festival is fast becoming one of the UK’s premier sporting events

The jewel in the jump race crown, the prestigious culmination of an entire season of horse racing, four days of magic, glory and exhilaration amid the beautiful Cotswold Hills. The Cheltenham Festival sees a gathering of the world’s greatest horses, jockeys and trainers performing for 220,000 fluttering hearts and wallets. For racing's professionals, victory at Cheltenham is what defines careers and assures a place in the history books.

The four day annual event begins on the 13th of March with Champion day. The famous Cheltenham roar accompanies the jockeys as they start the first race and signals the start of racing’s favourite fixture. Racing, sporting enthusiasts and culture fans from across the world attend. Fortunes will be made and lost and hundreds of millions of pounds gambled over the course of the festival.

The 14th sees the ever-glamorous Ladies Day, famous chiefly for extravagant hats! Ladies Day is further proof that Cheltenham is a place to see and be seen and as much a social fixture as a racing one. Plus, the fashion awards ensure an element of competition both on and off the turf.

The 15th is St Patrick’s Thursday. There’s a real Irish flavour in attendance as the racing world acknowledges the influence of the Irish within horse breeding and racing. Don’t be surprised if the Guinness flows freely.

The 16th is Cheltenham Gold Cup Day, the culmination of the festival and the racing season. As the horses and riders get into position the atmosphere is electric and the excitement palpable… and they’re off!

The facilities at the festival are second to none with a wide range of restaurants, bars and eateries in which to be fed, watered and entertained. There is also host of live music and other attractions on offer.

On race day not just the festival but the whole, charming town of Cheltenham transforms as it sees an influx of people dressed in their finery. It is an experience that is second to none.

As they say, football has Wembley, tennis has Wimbledon and horseracing has Cheltenham, each of them very special and unique events. Cheltenham Festival has fast become one of the UK’s premiere sporting events. In common with Wimbledon and Wembley, Cheltenham has evolved to become an iconic, classically English affair. People come from all over the world to enjoy the atmosphere and spectacle of the occasion.