Cheltenham Festival

You Won’t Believe How Much Beer Fans Drink at Cheltenham Festival

1 hour ago

| BY Ben Chopping

While the horse racing and the Cheltenham betting are the primary contributors to the Cheltenham Festival atmosphere, it’d be fair to say that the beer plays its part, too – just as it does at all sporting events.

Over the course of the four days in 2026, Cheltenham racecourse will welcome up to 264,000 patrons, many of whom will enjoy a pint or two. So, just how much beer does this massive racing crowd drink?

How Much Beer Does the Cheltenham Festival Crowd Drink?

Released Cheltenham Festival beer statistics reveal that around 265,000 pints of Guinness were drunk by the crowd of 218,839 across the event in 2025.

Despite that attendance figure marking a roughly 11,000 reduction from 2024, the number of pints of Guinness purchased went up by around 45,000. Somehow, a smaller Cheltenham Festival crowd increased the amount of beer sunk.

Of course, this is just for the Guinness. The Cheltenham beer tents also serve a brand of cider and lager, as well as non-alcoholic options. Beer sales stats for those other options haven’t been revealed.

Calculating the Cheltenham Festival Beer Statistics for 2026

Just as we can combine the odds and run the numbers for you with our useful racing bet builder, we’re going to run some beer maths here to try to estimate how much will be drunk at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival.

One of the most promising Cheltenham Festival facts coming into the 2026 meet was that, as of late February, ticket sales at the same stage were ahead of 2025 and, of course, Gold Cup Day on Friday was sold out.

Assuming an increase on the first three days by a few thousand and a sell out on Friday of 66,000 attendees, we could take a punt on there being around 225,000 going to the 2026 Cheltenham Festival.

Now, in 2025, 218,839 fans sunk 265,000 pints of Guinness. That averages to 1.21 pints per person. Using those Cheltenham Festival beer statistics, we can take a rough estimate that 270,000 pints of Guinness will be drunk at the 2026 festival.

Of course, these are very rough numbers and only look at the sales figures of one beer. In reality, the number of pints of alcoholic beverages drank at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival will likely be much higher than 270,000.

2026 Cheltenham Festival Facts: Beverages on Offer

The variety of booze on offer at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival pales in comparison to the number of horse racing odds markets you can find, but with Guinness being such a heavy favourite, selection isn’t a huge deal.

Clearly showing the draw of Guinness, the racecourse cut its price by 30p for 2026, making it £7.50 per pint. Given the other options, it looks like the ‘Black Stuff’ will be the best seller again this year.

Those in the Cheltenham Festival crowd will have a choice of Aspall Cyder, Pravha, or Guinness for £7.50 a pint or £3.75 for a half. There’s also Guinness 0.0 for £7.20, non-alcoholic lager at £4.10, and a tin of Doom Bar at £7.80 to round out the beer menu.

Along with the price cut, a big boost to the Cheltenham Festival atmosphere will be the festival now permitting fans to take drinks around the course.

They used to be limited to the beer tents, but letting patrons take their pints of beer out into the open was seen as a boon in a trial at Tattersalls in 2025, and it helped to spur more action in the betting ring.

With the prices cut and tickets selling well, one of the Cheltenham Festival facts of 2026 might just be a record for beer sold across the four-day event.