Cheltenham Festival records lowest attendance since 1993 on Wednesday

The Cheltenham Festival recorded its lowest attendance since 1993 on Wednesday as numbers continue to steadily fall year by year.

Cheltenham Festival attendance: Wednesday sees lowest turnout in 32 years

41,949 spectators flocked to Prestbury Park on ‘Style Wednesday’ for day two of the Cheltenham Festival, marking a steep tumble of nearly 5,000 from last year.

Headlined by the feature Queen Mother Champion Chase, Wednesday’s attendance dropped to its lowest point since 40,662 were in attendance in 1993.

It was a similar story for the crowd on Tuesday which recorded 55,498 down from 60,181 in 2024 and despite the incredible hype that surrounds the four-day festival, it doesn’t seem to attract the same attention in person anymore.

The meeting was bumped up to four days from an original three in 2025 and due to the rising cost of accommodation near the track alongside costly ticket prices – not to mention food and drink expenses on course – many regular racegoers have taken alternative routes of enjoying the show.

Warm weather destinations like Benidorm and Tenerife have attracted thousands of tourists this week to watch every race of the festival in the sun on a cinema screen for a fraction of the price it would cost to go to Cheltenham.

Cheltenham Day 2 Attendance:

2025 – 41,949
2024 – 46,771
2023 – 50,387
2022 – 64,431

Big drop over last few years.

— Daniel Hussey (@DanielHussey2) March 12, 2025

Total attendance expected within the 200,000 range, an 80,000 dip from 2022

Cheltenham racecourse chief executive Guy Lavender itted they are not seeing growing attendances at the festival but insisted the decline is in no way catastrophic.

It is expected the total attendance on the four days will sur the 200,000 mark but that will fall well short of the 280,000 peak which assembled in the Cotswolds three years ago.

The racecourse froze ticket prices last September and the early-bird fare for a place in the Best Mate enclosure started at £37 following the conclusion of the 2024 festival.