Cheltenham Festival: Enclosures, Dress Code and What to Expect

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The Cheltenham Festival runs Tuesday 16 to Friday 19 March 2027: four days, 28 races, and the biggest jump racing meeting in the world. There are three enclosures, no official dress code, and weather that catches out almost every first timer.

If you have been to Royal Ascot and are expecting the same thing in March, it is a different event. Ascot is a summer occasion with published dress rules. Cheltenham is a winter one where the practical question is how to stay warm for eight hours outdoors.

What are the three Cheltenham enclosures?

Cheltenham Festival has three enclosures: Club, Tattersalls and Best Mate. The ticket you buy determines which stands and areas you can access.

Club Enclosure is the premium public option, with access to all premium public areas, the main grandstand, the Members' lawn and the winning post. Club ticket holders can also access all the Tattersalls areas, so it is the only enclosure that includes another.

Tattersalls Enclosure sits in the heart of the racecourse and gives a view of the racing from the centre of the action.

Best Mate Enclosure is directly opposite the main grandstand, next to the finish line, giving a head on view down the home straight. The Jockey Club describes it as a favourite for groups.

The Orchard is a separate area available to Club Enclosure ticket holders, described by the racecourse as a first in British horseracing.

Is there a dress code at Cheltenham?

No. The Jockey Club has no formal dress code in place for the Cheltenham Festival. Smart dress is common and encouraged, but nothing is required and nobody will stop you at the gate over an outfit.

There is one real restriction. Fancy dress is not permitted in hospitality, restaurant facilities or the Club Enclosure. It is allowed elsewhere provided the outfit is not offensive, and the racecourse reserves the right to decline entry.

This is the opposite of Royal Ascot, where the Royal Enclosure publishes measurements down to the width of a shoulder strap. At Cheltenham the constraint is not the rules, it is the weather.

What should you actually wear to Cheltenham?

Dress for standing outdoors in March in the Cotswolds for most of a day. The racecourse itself advises checking the forecast and dressing accordingly, and warns that most car parks require a walk to the racecourse even where trackway has been laid, so footwear needs to suit the conditions.

Holland Cooper founder Jade Holland Cooper, whose brand works with the Festival, gives specific advice on the racecourse's own dress code page. Layer up: tights under trousers, thermals, a thin roll neck under a roll neck. She names gloves as the accessory she cannot do without at the races, on the grounds that it is always colder than people expect.

What to avoid, in her words: bare legs, floaty skirts and thin materials. And sensible shoes, because you are on your feet and moving around the course all day.

The practical summary is that Cheltenham rewards outerwear. A coat you actually want to wear all day matters more than the outfit underneath it, because the outfit underneath will not be visible for most of the afternoon.

What are the four days of the Cheltenham Festival?

Each day has its own name and its own feature race.

Gold Cup Day is the closing day and the one most people have heard of. St Patrick's Thursday falls on 18 March in 2027, the day after St Patrick's Day itself, and draws a large Irish crowd.

Across the four days there are 28 races in total.

Cheltenham or Royal Ascot: which should you go to?

They are different events that happen to share a sport.

Choose Cheltenham if the racing is the point. It is the championship meeting of jump racing and the crowd is there for the sport, loudly.

Choose Royal Ascot if the day out is the point. The dress codes, the Royal Procession and the summer weather make it an occasion first and a race meeting second.

If you have never been to either and you feel the cold, start with Ascot.

What is the atmosphere like at Cheltenham?

Loud. The Cheltenham roar, the noise that goes up as the first race starts, is the thing people describe when they come back.

Beyond the racing there is a shopping village, live music and off track entertainment across the site. The Jockey Club runs a Best Dressed Competition despite there being no dress code, which tells you something about how the crowd approaches it anyway.

How do you get to Cheltenham Racecourse?

The racecourse is at Prestbury Park, north of Cheltenham town centre. The Jockey Club publishes travel guidance including a list of commutable travel areas, and runs a racecourse app with day of information.

The detail worth planning around is parking. Most car parks have been laid with trackway, but the racecourse still warns it is a walk from the car park to the enclosures. In March, after rain, that walk is the reason the footwear advice keeps coming up.

For exact gate times and the full race schedule, check the event schedule on thejockeyclub.co.uk closer to the day, since times are published per raceday rather than fixed year to year.

Is the Cheltenham Festival worth it?

If you like racing, it is the best four days of the year in the sport, and the absence of a dress code makes it cheaper to attend than Royal Ascot before you have bought a ticket. Nobody needs to hire morning dress or buy a hat.

The honest warning is the weather. March in the Cotswolds is cold, often wet, and you will be outside from before the first race until after the last. People who enjoy Cheltenham are the ones who dressed for a winter day outdoors rather than for photographs.

Get that right and the rest of it takes care of itself.

Related guides

• UK racecourse dress codes compared
• Racing in the rain: what changes and what to wear
• Which race meeting should you go to?

Sources: Dates, enclosures, dress guidance and race information come from the Jockey Club's Cheltenham Festival pages at thejockeyclub.co.uk, checked in September 2026. Times and prices change between years, so check before booking.