ROYAL ASCOT
BALANCING HERITAGE WITH INVENTION AT ROYAL ASCOT
Founded in 1711 by Queen Anne, Ascot Racecourse has hosted Royal Ascot for more than 250 years but each year its production involves new ideas and concepts being brought to life. We explore the new elements that made a difference to the look and feel of this year’ s edition.
While being steeped in history, Royal Ascot has been enhanced in recent years with new look features, viewing areas and brand activations that resonate with its attendees while remaining in line with the deep-rooted elegance of the event.
Typically, 300,000 racegoers attend the landmark flat racing meeting across its five days, while the event is broadcast in more than 200 territories to an audience of around 650 million. It is not just the attendees who dress to impress, the team at Ascot work year-around to ensure that the 179-acre site is transformed into one of the UK’ s most beautifully presented summer events.
With some 219 temporary structures ranging from triple-deck hospitality venues to small bars, Royal Ascot is also one of the largest event builds in the UK.
Director of estate operations Sam Thompson joined Ascot Racecourse in 2022. To bring Royal Ascot to life his team works with more than 1,500 contractors on site. While decorating Royal Ascot’ s four enclosures alone involves more than 3.5 miles of bunting and 20,000 biodegradable Union Jacks, to keep visitors comfortable some 130,000 pieces of furniture are hired in.
Sam Thompson
Thompson says the event build typically commences on 23 February and lasts 113 days, with everything completed the Friday before Royal Ascot commences – which this year ran from Tuesday 15 June to 19 June. Some 21 days after Royal Ascot, the site has been returned entirely to its original layout.
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