Christopher BarrettAscot senior events manager Amelie Cartigny announced at the Event Production Show (EPS) that Royal Ascot is being re-planned from a socially-distanced event for 4,000 to a 12,000-capacity pilot as part of the Government’s Events Research Programme (ERP).
Cartigny said that a crowd of 12,000 will be able to attend on each of the five days of Royal Ascot, commencing 15 June. It will be the biggest daily attendance at a British racecourse since the coronavirus pandemic lockdown began in March last year.
The news follows the announcement that the second England cricket Test match of the men’s series against New Zealand, commencing 10 June at Edgbaston will accommodate 18,000 fans per day as part of the ERP.
Other forthcoming ERP events include a three-day camping festival for 10,000 people in mid-June organised by Festival Republic.
Cartigny was taking part in a panel at EPS entitled Spectator Safety in Sport – Fit for the Future alongside Spartan UK & Ireland and Tough Mudder UK MD Matthew Brooke, Strategem Events events producer Nickie Sherlock, and Epsom and Kempton Racecourses general manager Simon Durrant.