Princess Royal’s Festival of British Eventing cancelled after 40 years
Spiralling costs were blamed as the Festival of British Eventing at the Princess Royal’s Gatcombe Park home was cancelled on Monday.
Peter Phillips, the event director and son of Anne and her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips, said it has been a “huge part” of his family’s lives.
The Gloucestershire event was launched as the Gatcombe Horse Trials in the 1980s after the family “first had the dream”. “Despite great determination from the organising team, the current economic climate has made it unviable for the event to go ahead,” the event said in a statement on Monday.
In 1983, the gates of the Gloucestershire home were opened for the best of British riders and it had since become a staple of the eventing calendar.
“It is with a heavy heart that the festival, which has played a significant part in the British Eventing calendar since 1983, cannot run this year,” Peter Phillips said in a statement. “It has built up a large community that has enjoyed and celebrated the festival each year. I would like to thank everyone who has been involved over the past four decades; our sponsors for their unwavering support, the large selection of trade stands and arena entertainment and our spectators who have loved coming to Gatcombe to watch the world-class equestrian sport from the famous Park Bowl.”
Organisers say they will be looking at how they can make Gatcombe “viable” again for the years to come. Event chairman Captain Phillips added in a statement: “The horse trials at Gatcombe and more recently the Festival of British Eventing have been a major part of my life for over 40 years when the Princess Royal and I first had the dream. The dream became reality, and with it, many special memories of the many riders, horses, volunteers, sponsors and spectators all of whom massively contributed to the history of the horse trials at Gatcombe Park.
“It’s truly a great sadness that the original model and indeed the sport has changed so much. Since Covid, costs, particularly insurance, have risen so much that the numbers no longer add up. It is the end of an era, the next 40 years of the sport will be different, let’s hope it can be equally special.”
Rosie Williams, chief executive of British Eventing, said: “It is incredibly sad news for everyone involved in the sport. My focus this year is very much going to be on how we can implement a strategy that works for the sport going forward. We need to do everything we can to find a way to support our organisers, landowners and stakeholders to make events at wonderful venues like Gatcombe become viable. We will work hard as a governing body to assist in any way we can for the financial risk and burden to be minimised so that we can welcome Gatcombe, and others like it, back into the calendar.
“We will continue to be ongoing in discussions with Peter and the team at Gatcombe and will also be, as a matter of urgency, discussing a tender process for the national championships which will need to find a new home for this season and going forward.”
This year’s Magic Millions Festival of British Eventing was due to take place at Gatcombe Park between Aug 2-4.
