Cheltz Fest 2021 Behind Closed Doors ?

[Middle_Of_March]

That's a great idea.

I did gave family in Birmingham, but they've moved so the plan to train on from their place is off too.

It’s just about doable to get a train from my house in Essex or my university house in High Wycombe. However.. nobody wants the stress of 2/3 hours on the train on festival week. This half an hour train from Bristol is very pleasant towards the Cotswolds.. racing post and beer in hand. Lovely stuff. We tried it four years ago (my first festival) expecting we’d be looking elsewhere but have kept that routine every year since. Works great for us.

That’s annoying for you - Brum to Cheltenham wouldn’t have been too bad as I’m 90% sure there’s a direct train that way as well.

[Quevega]

It’s just about doable to get a train from my house in Essex or my university house in High Wycombe. However.. nobody wants the stress of 2/3 hours on the train on festival week. This half an hour train from Bristol is very pleasant towards the Cotswolds.. racing post and beer in hand. Lovely stuff. We tried it four years ago (my first festival) expecting we’d be looking elsewhere but have kept that routine every year since. Works great for us.

That’s annoying for you - Brum to Cheltenham wouldn’t have been too bad as I’m 90% sure there’s a direct train that way as well.

45 minutes. And regular trains.

Been stopping in Birmingham last few years.
If I manage to get the last train, and get off at the right stop that is !

[Garrison Savannah]

As a member I expect to go in a ballot before they sell anything to the general public. It's a disgrace.

You can’t be that naive surely?

[ryanh97]

You can’t be that naive surely?

Don't think it's a matter of naivety GS, simply a matter of expecting goodwill from someone who you gave ?500 to 8 months ago.

[Lobos]

Strange how it’s worked out as I’m about 30mins from Bristol and get Tier 2

Fucker !

[Diamond Geezer]

Posted elsewhere

"So it seems that the hospitality figure is separate from the 2000 spectators.
However, out of the 2000 crowd the owners attending needs to be deducted.
Bizarre regarding the owners, as how do they know how many are going to attend, as the ballot ends on Monday 30th way before decs are made."

[ryanh97]

Ballot now open. It appears that no alcohol will be sold on course.

[Lobos]

Great news. Vaccination to be rolled out starting next week. My wife works at NHS and just received text. Looks like we'll be back to near normality sooner than expected

[Istabraq]

My wife works at NHS and just received text. Looks like we'll be back to near normality sooner than expected

Great news that, let's hope normality does return ahead of schedule...

[Spectre]

The hospitality figure isn’t separate from the 2000. The total 2000 will include hospitality, owners, and private boxes. I’ve not been able to find out if those that paid for the Insurance Bar have also been prioritised, but I’d imagine so. That will probably take around half the 2000 allocation on Saturday.

However, I called to book hospitality posing as a non-member. They are so far using the Panoramic Restaurant and the Gold Cup Restaurant, and said they would open up more facilities if/when they have numbers to support it, and they will put me on the waiting list as a non member and call me after prioritising members in hospitality first. You, I, and any general member who hasn’t booked hospitality will go into the ballot after hospitality has been filled with members and non members. If they open up another restaurant this will also come off the ballot numbers. Memberships have also gone up from 4500 to over 6000 since the announcement, so a a few thousand will be vying for a few hundred tickets, and the racecourse will have non-members in there.

Where that lawyer?!

[Istabraq]

I wrote to the membership team last week asking a few questions.
Firstly, if you are successful in the ballot but do not want to/cannot attend the refund can be claimed, this is particularly important for members who go in groups.
Also, I asked the question about number of hospitality tickets compared to general admission and whilst they said they were unable to provide specific numbers (the ballot closes today) the words they used in their e-mail response was 'hospitality has not yet been allocated due to little uptake'.

So there could well be a few more success stories than we initially thought, here's hoping....

[Diamond Geezer]

Cheltenham Racourse is being seriously considered as a mass covid vaccination centre, which depending when any such system begins,may affect either one or both of the two January meetings and of course the Festival. Whether all or part is unclear but I suspect the Centaur may be one option which could be utilised with racegoers using the Hall Of Fame entrance and the North entrance.The Jockey Club and the NHS are holding discussions this week.

[Spectre]

I can confirm that I have just had a call from the hospitality team at Cheltenham offering me hospitality as a 'non-member' for Saturday, prior to the ballot for members.

I still haven't had a response from the racecourse management after my complaint 5 days ago!!!

They are an utter shower of shit!

[Chaser1980]

There wont be many groups booking hospitality as the same household rules would apply surely? Would be a lonely old day sat on a table by yourself

[MTR]

Thank you for entering the ballot for The International meeting on Friday 11th and Saturday 12th December.




We are pleased to say that you have been successful in the ballot process, and will be able to attend Cheltenham Racecourse on Saturday 12th December. We are looking forward to being able to welcome you back on course as a valued Annual Member. All membership cards associated with this email address have been successful for the above date.

finally something to look forward to!