I’ve never been to the races before.
Up until last month, I thought horse racing was for old men with flat caps, and going to the races meant dingy rooms littered with screwed up betslips and cigarette smoke wafting in from outside.
So when my friend suggested taking our kids to the family day at Chester Racecourse I was more than a little confused.
Family day? At the horse racing? What is this day of which you speak?
Now obviously I have heard of ladies day at Cheltenham and I know people get dressed up for the Grand National, I haven’t been living under a rock. But I thought these were famous because they were unusual.
How wrong was I?
I have never seen so many well dressed people in one place outside of a wedding, and the atmosphere was fantastic. I did see a fair few flat caps, but they were all proudly worn by very dapper men in extremely expensive looking suits.
If you have ever thought about going I would thoroughly recommend it, we had a blast. You can read about our experience after this quick visitors guide.
Quick Guide to Visiting Chester Racecourse
Maybe you’re not interested in what we got up to and only want the hard facts to help you plan your own visit.
That’s ok, I won’t take offence ðŸ˜
Here you go:
- When does it open? Gates open at 12.30, first race usually around 14.30.
- How much does it cost? Adults pay £17 for the Roodee, kids go free. More expensive tickets are available for other parts of the venue.
- Is there a dress code? Not in the Roodee, it’s as casual as you like.
- Can you bring your own food? Yes, picnics are allowed in the Roodee. Go to Gate 9 if you have one, Gate 8 if you don’t. If you have a pram or buggy though, you will need Gate 4 for access.
- Where’s best to park? Linenhall car park is ideal for the town centre and the racecourse. It’s 5 minutes from each and costs £6 all day.
- Do you have to make a bet? No. You don’t even have to watch the racing if you don’t want to.
Now on with the blog.
What is it?
I didn’t know this, but racecourses tend to run other events and entertainment on race days. There is a lot of waiting in between races, so this makes the experience more varied and enjoyable.
Sometimes they get famous singers to come and do gigs, sometimes there are posh meals, and sometimes they run a family day.
It’s essentially a fairground inside the racecourse.
People can buy tickets for different areas of the course, some are expensive with a VIP vibe, while others are cheap as a chips but come with no extras. Everyone gets access to the fun stuff though.
The races run at their allotted times, bookmakers pitches are set up all around the course, and you can enjoy the fair between races.
To be honest, you could go and have a great day out and completely ignore the racing if you wanted to. There is no obligation to watch it or make bets.
The setup is fantastic, with plenty of food and drink vendors, loads of toilets (but oddly never enough, especially if you are female, those queues…), and an army of staff keeping the place tidy and running smoothly.
The mood is buoyant, everyone behaves themselves as far as I could tell, and if the weather is good it’s hard to think of a better way to spend the day with your family.
Free Fun for the Kids
I was very pleasantly surprised when I looked into buying tickets, because not only were they affordable priced at £17 for adults, but kids under 17 get in for free 🙌.
We were a group of 4 adults and 5 kids, so for £68 nine of us got access to the whole event.
You will end up spending extra when you’re in there, but it doesn’t have to cost much more because all of the rides and activities are also free! I couldn’t believe it. There was absolutely loads of stuff for the kids to do, although we only managed to get round half of it because we were watching the races as well.
The events were a good mix that would appeal to all age groups, and because everything is contained inside the racecourse, it felt safe. Kids are also given a wristband that you write your phone number on, just in case they get lost.
The only thing you will spend extra money on is any food or drink that you buy, or any bets that you make. If you get the £17 tickets in the Roodee (an open area of the course) then setting up a little picnic area and bringing your own food is encouraged, so you can save money there too.
We set up our little area next to the track with picnic blankets and cooler boxes, then left our things unattended multiple times and nothing was taken, although we kept our valuable with us.
So it is perfectly possible to spend £17 to get in and not a penny more.
Rides and Events
You’re probably wondering what exactly there is to do there, so let me tell you.
Our boys loved the inflatable obstacle courses of which there were several, the helter skelter, the big wheel, and the carousel. We had fun playing traditional fairground games too, like knocking down tin cans, getting the balls in the buckets, coconut shy, hoopla etc. These were all free, and they even gave out prizes!
We spent a fair bit of time playing with the circus skills equipment, failing miserably at juggling and that diablo thing with the string and two sticks. We span the boys in the spinning top, played tug of war, and chucked a scramble net over them and left them for half an hour while we got a cocktail.
Only joking, it was more like 25 minutes 😂 No, we didn’t abandon them, but we did throw a scramble net over them.
There was an ambulance and a fire engine on site that the kids could go and look at and sit in the drivers seat, Bluey and Bingo turned up for photoshoot opportunities, there was a crafts tent, a spinning rodeo bull and an inflatable metldown too – which is the thing that spins to horizontal poles around and you have to duck or jump over them.
There were even children’s entertainers running competitions for the children. They had a little area inside a big inflatable rubber ring that the kids had to race around without falling off.
I’m probably forgetting things, there was so much.
Dress Code
The great thing about family day, is there is no real dress code. Tired mums rejoice!
If you book hospitality tickets in one of the enclosures or concourses you will have to make an effort. But if you book the cheap tickets in the Roodee where all the rides and things are you can wear anything you like provided it isn’t offensive.
I put a little bit of makeup on and wore my favourite dungarees, my fella was just in jeans and a t-shirt, and our boy had combats with a t-shirt and a shirt on top.
Of course the shirt came off within 5 minutes and everything else he was wearing got trashed 10 minutes after that…
There were people who had dressed up in the Roodee, I saw some wonderful outfits, but there is no expectation and certainly no judgement if you don’t.
Which is just as well because I haven’t dressed up in so long that I don’t think any of my nice clothes fit me anymore.
Do You Have to Watch the Racing or Bet on it?
Not at all.
There is no expectation or pressure to watch the races when they run, and certainly not to bet on them. There are loads of bookmakers with their pitches set up around the place, but they won’t call out to you or anything like that. You can just ignore them.
We did make some bets, not that we had any idea what we were doing. If i’m being honest we read out the names of the horses and let our son pick his favourite. I’m fairly sure that’s not how the professionals do it but I might be wrong.
It was great fun and gave structure to the day: watch a race, wander around the fair for 30-40 minutes, head back for the next race, etc.
Our little boy sat on his Daddy’s shoulders and watched the horses galloping past just a few meters away, and we encouraged him to cheer them on which he got very involved in. All kids love having permission to shout, right?
We didn’t win anything, but we didn’t expect to. We got very close on one race though!
Arrive Early and Explore Chester Town Centre
The gates opened at 12.30 and everything was finished by about 5.30/6ish, so it’s a long afternoon event rather than a whole day, but the racecourse is right next to the centre of town.
We spent a happy couple of hours exploring Chester, which is beautiful, got some cake, and visited the children’s library run by Storyhouse, as well as getting the obligatory photograph under the Eastgate Clock.
We walked the city walls in some very light rain too, which was just so calm and relaxing. It was real wholesome family time before all the excitement.
Our son was about ready for a nap by the time we got to the racecourse, but as soon as he saw all the rides and things he perked straight up. The sugar from the slushy he had probably helped too.
If you ever go to the races I would recommend getting to Chester early and exploring if you can. We only live an hour away, but we might even stay the night if we go back next year. It’s a lovely place to visit.