Saturday 5th - Saturday 12th July 2008

Now in its second year, The Newmarket Festival will once again host a range of events around Newmarket Town.

The Newmarket Festival will open on Saturday 5th July with the Newmarket Town Carnival set to take place at The NatWest Rowley Mile Racecourse.

Other confirmed events include:

• Saturday 5th July - The Newmarket Town Carnival at The NatWest Rowley Mile.
• An evening of musical entertainment on Tuesday 8th July at The July Racecourse featuring classical music group Blake and soloist Natasha Marsh.
• The Ritz Club July Festival - 3 days of classic English racing in the garden party atmosphere of the romantic July Course, Wednesday 9th - Friday 11th July, featuring Bond Street Day, Lanson Ladies' Day and Darley July Cup Day.
• HSBC Celebrity Sporting Dinner at Swnford Paddocks Hotel on Thursday 10th July.
• 'Breakfast in the Paddocks' at The Bedford Lodge Hotel on Friday 11th July.
• On Saturday 12th July, The National Horseracing Museum will be hosting their summer fete. Timings are 11am - 3pm and there will be lots of old fashioned games, raffle, tombola etc.

There will be a lot more events in 2008 which will be confirmed in due course.

For more information visit the Newmarket Festival website - click here

Review of The Newmarket Festival 2007

Plans for the inaugural Newmarket Festival, built around the town’s major race meeting, the Ritz Club July Festival, were announced in March 2007 as a development team made up of local business representatives, racecourse officials and town councillors worked together on the creation of the Festival.  The longer term aim is to make it a celebration for Newmarket residents and a celebration of Newmarket for visitors to the town.

The Festival opened on Tuesday 10th July with an open-air classical concert at Newmarket’s July Course headlined by the original X-factor success story, G4. There were also performances from 10 local school choirs and theatre groups, up and coming classical duo Ryan Dan and classical trio Sirena. Concert-goers were invited to bring their own picnics tables and chairs to enjoy a fabulous summer’s evening of musical entertainment.

The Festival continued with three days of scintillating racing, preceded by the official opening of the July Course after its £10 million redevelopment with Newmarket Legends Lester Piggott and Frankie Dettori doing the honours.  Fashion was a feature of all three days, with the highlight coming on Thursday when Lanson crowned Suzy Robertson their best dressed lady. She received a year’s supply of Lanson Champagne and a year’s supply of Pantene Shampoo.

Away from the racecourse, local retailers got involved as many of the shops in the town extended their opening hours till 8pm on Wednesday. The action moved to Swynford Paddocks Hotel on Thursday evening as they hosted a Celebrity Sporting Dinner, with the main speeches delivered by Colin Jackson OBE.

The final day of the festival started bright and early on Friday 13th July as the Bedford Lodge Hotel hosted a ‘Breakfast in the Paddocks’ with special guest John Francome. Following a sumptuous breakfast on the lawns of the hotel, guests were taken on to the gallops to watch work with local trainers Paul D’Arcy and Nick Littmoden, followed by a ‘behind the scenes’ look at a stable.

The first year of the Festival was deemed a great success with plans for 2008 already in motion and discussions already in place for Newmarket’s annual carnival to be incorporated. It is recognised that it will take time to build the Newmarket Festival into something big – the organising team are working on a six year plan with the aspirations of eventually creating a national and perhaps even an international event.