What is it about the Festival that we love, and what draws us in?

[Ice]

The Tuesday run of Supreme - Arkle - Ultima - Champion Hurdle - Mares Hurdle is absolutely unparalleled in sport

Cheltenham for me is like Christmas for kids but the buzz starts a lot earlier !

[Saxon Warrior]

Ive called Cheltenham "Adult Christmas" for years.

[Atlantic Viking]

I have a fetish for 7 quid plastic pints of cat piss that someone has successfully marketed as 'lager', no place satisfies this lust quite like the Cheltenham festival.

In addition I just love jumps racing and as others have alluded, it's Christmas for overgrown children masquerading as adult men (and women of course!). Nothing beats the Tuesday on this front, the buzz and the giddiness is off the charts, just a brilliant atmosphere with everyone there for the same thing. An entire years build up unleashed on a small corner of Gloucestershire, arguably a 2 year build up to the next one! It's the genuine highlight of my year and as someone else said, for those 4 days absolutely nothing else matters. I love getting lost and caught up in it all.
And in recent years, I love spending months on end trying to piece it together in the ante-post markets! It's a hobby and a passion and nothing else comes close. Due to becoming a relentlessly boring bastard waffling on about it all for 12 months solid I have lost my entire circle of friends, family, a number of relationships and even the cat, but it's a small price to pay.

[Irish Rugby]

Agree with all this but I have to admit now it's all a bit too much hustle and bustle these days. Last went 5/6 years ago and lost count of all the days I was there, some years for the entire week. First visit was in 86 to see Dawn Run win the Gold Cup. I can't complain. Great memories.

Just as happy now sitting in front of the TV with the laptop.

[Black Dog]

Just as happy now sitting in front of the TV with the laptop.[/QUOTE]

With a box of Kleenex?

[Ray]

Its THE best time of the year for me, and like i said on another thread earlier in the year..the big draw for me is its the best chance to really land a big bet, with markets all year round and the knowledge from this forum makes it more and more exciting..i dont think there is anything better then being on a 20/1 shot thats gone off odds on!

i moved from london down to bournemouth recently and started a new job..the first days i booked off were the cheltenham festival its that important! when you have people on here with the same mindset its on your mind year round so the buzz is always there

i think its the nuts! for me personally im still new in the game so i just enjoy always learning and seeing what works and what doesnt im thinking this is my last year just throwing money at bets with no real organisation other then a spending cap..then next year ill make a diary like the others and ill really know were im at ive got 80 open bets for the 22 festival and there is no slowing down for me last year i had 190 going into the first day so im going balls out cos i bloddy lov it

[Native River]

Part of it for me is the whole puzzle of the year, trying to work out all the possible angles before trying to ultimately get it right months in advance.

[Spectre]

NC has captured my feelings about the event almost perfectly, and there's very little I would add.

There is one thing that I place right at the top of the list though. I get to share the Festival in the company of a fantastic group of friends. Eight of us that stick together all week, and many more that I have long-standing arrangements that I meet with across the four days before, during, or after racing.

The Festival is not only the finest four days racing in the world, I get to spend it with just the best group of guys imaginable. We win together, we lose together, we drink together, we eat together, and we wish the days and weeks away until we can do it all over again.

[knockando]

Find somewhere to watch on the grass with the multitude and join the huge roar which greets "they're off". It sends shivers down your spine.

.

Quality post NC - reading it - I thought it was like the racing answer to 'The Weak Become Heroes' - a song by The Streets with a one man monologue, cutting lyrics to the backdrop of a looping backtrack.

I loved the above little snippet too, the Tuesday 'roar' is quite something. My parents fortunately retired 11 miles from the track to a very remote, quaint little village - and even there, the local pub is descended upon by the Irish through the week.

I take the week off without fail every year - go with mates on Tuesday, take my old man on Wednesday, pub Thursday - Friday. Bring on that first pint of Guinness 15th March 2022.