When is the 2026 Cheltenham Festival?

The Cheltenham Festival takes place in March every year. In 2026, the Cheltenham Festival will start on Tuesday 10th March, and end on Friday 13th March.

The Cheltenham Festival is National Hunt racing's most popular meeting and one of Britain's most famous sporting events. During the four-day Festival, many of jumps racing's most prestigious prizes will be handed out, including the historic Cheltenham Gold Cup.

The Cheltenham Festival is held at Cheltenham racecourse. Cheltenham racecourse is also called Prestbury Park, and is situated in Gloucestershire, England.

13 Grade One races will be run during the Cheltenham Festival. The four Championship races during the week are the Champion Hurdle, the Champion Chase, the Stayers' Hurdle and the Gold Cup.

Galopin Des Champs was beaten by Inothewayurthinkin as he attempted to complete a hat-trick of Gold Cup wins. Both could return to run in the 2026 Gold Cup, where they could be joined by Fact To File, Majborough and Ballyburn.

Constitution Hill and State Man both fell at Golden Ace claimed a shock victory in the 2025 Champion Hurdle and both could bid for redemption in 2026. Turners Novices' Hurdle winner, The New Lion will be aimed at the Champion Hurdle next year, while Final Demand - who finished third in that Grade One - will likely be the hot favourite for the 2026 Brown Advisory Novices' Chase.

Cheltenham Festival 2026 will be shown live on ITV and RacingTV. If you'd rather watch the racing via your mobile or tablet, then bookmakers such as bet365 will allow you to stream the race live.

The bet365 live streaming service covers a wide range of horse racing on a daily basis. Here's how to stream the Cheltenham Festival 2026 live online:

The opening day of the Cheltenham Festival is known as Champion's Day, and will take place on Tuesday 10th March in 2026.

The Champion Hurdle is the main event on day one's card. There are also three further Grade Ones in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle, the Arkle Challenge Trophy and the Mares' Hurdle.

The historic National Hunt Chase also takes place on day one, along with the Ultima Handicap Chase and the Boodles Handicap Hurdle for juveniles.

Day Two at the Cheltenham Festival is known as Ladies' Day. Wednesday's card at Cheltenham features four Grade One races, and the feature Championship race is the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

The Turners Novices' Hurdle and Brown Advisory Novices' Chase get day two's card off to a thrilling start. The Grade One Champion Bumper, the only flat race at the Cheltenham Festival, is the final race on the day.

Wednesday's card features two handicaps, the Coral Cup and the Grand Annual, as well as the unique Cross Country Chase.

The third day at the Cheltenham Festival is known as St Patrick's day, and is headlined by the oldest of the four Championship race at the meeting, the Stayers' Hurdle.

There only other Grade One to be run on day three is the Ryanair Chase. The Mares' Novices' Hurdle kicks off the card, which is followed by the Jack Richards Novices' Handicap Chase.

Thursday's card also features three thrilling handicaps, the Pertemps Final, the Festival Plate Handicap Chase and the Kim Muir Challenge Cup.

The fourth and final day at the Cheltenham Festival revolves around the Gold Cup, the most prestigious and valuable Grade One race in all of National Hunt racing.

Before we reach the Gold Cup, there are two other Grade One races to enjoy on day four, the Triumph Hurdle and the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle.

The County Hurdle Handicap and the Mares Chase will also be run before the Gold Cup. The Hunters Chase - known as the amateurs Gold Cup - follows Friday's main event, before the Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle closes out the meeting.