{"id":20808,"date":"2026-03-02T13:48:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T10:48:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/?p=20808"},"modified":"2026-03-10T16:02:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T13:02:30","slug":"how-long-is-the-cheltenham-festival-days-number-of-races-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/how-long-is-the-cheltenham-festival-days-number-of-races-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"How Long Is the Cheltenham Festival? Days &#038; Number of Races Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<div class=\"post_banner sticky\">\r\n                    <div class=\"container\">\r\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\">\r\n                        <div class=\"text\">\r\n                            <p>Choose your bet on <a href=\"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/betting\/horse-racing\/uk\/cheltenham\">Cheltenham Festival<\/a><\/p>\n\r\n                        <\/div>\r\n                        <a class=\"btn\" href=\"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/betting\/horse-racing\/uk\/cheltenham\">BET<\/a>\r\n                    <\/div>\r\n                    <div class=\"responsibly\">18+ | Play responsibly | BeGambleAware.org<\/div>\r\n                <\/div>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re clearing your schedule for race week, you\u2019re probably wondering how long is the Cheltenham Festival and how much racing is packed into it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Below, we break down the details.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How Many Days Is the Cheltenham Festival?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Cheltenham Festival runs for four days every year in March. This year, it will take place from 10th to 13th March at the Cheltenham Racecourse in Gloucestershire, England.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is one of the biggest events in the UK\u2019s racing calendar. The Festival has followed the same four-day format since 2005, and each afternoon features a full card of top-level National Hunt races. The biggest Grade 1 contests are spread across the week.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each day also has its own theme:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Champion Day (Tuesday)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Style Wednesday<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">St Patrick\u2019s Thursday<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gold Cup Day (Friday)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How Many Races Are at the Cheltenham Festival?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Cheltenham Festival features 28 races in total \u2013 seven on each day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The bigger contests, like the championship-level Grade 1 races, are spread over the four days. This means fans get to see at least one major headline race every afternoon. This keeps the racing high quality throughout.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Cheltenham Festival Schedule<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every day, the races begin at 1:20 pm UK time. If you are planning on visiting the racecourse, you\u2019ll need to head out early, as the gates open at 10:30 am. The day begins with a preview show, live in the Parade Ring. After that, you can sit back and enjoy the live racing till late evening.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Note: The organizers may change the times on racedays, so make sure to check the latest <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/cheltenham-2026-racecards-all-festival-days\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cheltenham racecards<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for confirmed runners and updated race times.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/lobby\/promotions\/sportsbook\/welcome-boosted-odds-offer-cheltenham-festival-2026\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-20839 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Cheltenham-festival-betting-banner.jpg\" alt=\"Cheltenham festival betting banner\" width=\"600\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Cheltenham-festival-betting-banner.jpg 600w, https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Cheltenham-festival-betting-banner-300x250.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Has Cheltenham Always Been Four Days?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It wasn\u2019t always a four-day event. It started in 1902 as a three-day meet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2005, the Festival was expanded to four days so that each day could have a strong card and one of the main championship races as its feature. Since then, the four-day structure has become the norm.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, there have been some discussions on moving the festival to a Wednesday\u2013Saturday format to get more racing fans in the grandstand on the weekend. However, no firm decision has been made on that yet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>FAQs<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>How long is the Cheltenham Festival?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s a four-day festival that takes place every year in March. Races begin each day at 1:20 pm at Cheltenham Racecourse in Gloucestershire, England.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>How many days is Cheltenham?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cheltenham Festival lasts four days. The current format has been in place since 2005, and follows a Tuesday\u2013Friday format every year.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>How many races are run at Cheltenham Festival?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There will be 28 races at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival, spread across the four days. This means fans and bettors can view seven races every day. Each day features a variety of races like hurdles, handicaps, novice contests, and a headline race.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>How many races are on each day?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each day features seven races. There\u2019s one headline race to look forward to every day. Refer to the schedule above for the complete racing calendar.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #18ae62;\"><b><i>Betting is only available to participants aged 18 years and over. Please bet responsibly. BeGambleAware.org<\/i><\/b><\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]If you\u2019re clearing your schedule for race week, you\u2019re probably wondering how long is the Cheltenham Festival and how much<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":20811,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[464],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-horse-racing"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Long Is the Cheltenham Festival? 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