Costa del Cheltenham! Thousands of Brits descend on Benidorm in fancy dress to watch Cheltenham Festival racing in the sunshine with £2 pints

The Brits have replaced Cheltenham with the Costa Blanca, with a huge influx of fans coming to Benidorm to enjoy the racing away from the expensive festival in Gloucestershire.

Punters dressed up in funny outfits and took to the Benidorm strip for the start of the four-day festival on Tuesday; It’s a tradition that’s grown in recent years, with hotel bookings increasing by a staggering 225 percent.

Cheltenham organizers sought to make beer more affordable after criticism last year, dropping the price of Guinness to £7.50 per pint, while Benidorm’s offer of £1.70 per pin looks too good to turn down for thousands of Brits.

As racing continues 1,300 miles north, where the weather is currently 11 degrees and overcast, holiday-goers have been seen wearing traditional jockey attire and drinking beers in the sun.

It’s not just cheap booze that’s persuading Brits to embrace Benidorm over Cheltenham. The burgers sell for more than half the festival price of £12; flights cost a fraction of the train fare demanded by passengers traveling from London to Gloucestershire.

While entry to bars on the strip is free, a day ticket in Cheltenham will cost between £47 and £180.

Punters travel to Spain instead of Gloucestershire as cheaper alternative

Pints ​​cost as little as £1.70 in the Spanish city, down from £7.50 at the official event

Racing fans wore fancy costumes as they enjoyed the first day of the four-day racing bonanza.

There are countless big screen TVs showing all the races, live DJ sets and pool parties.

The festival provides a jump-start to St. Patrick’s Day (17 March), which is typically a busy period in Benidorm when tourists enjoy the holidays.

It is reported that more than 40 percent of visitors to Benidorm a year are British. Around 900,000 British travelers visited the city in 2024.

Cheltenham bosses are struggling to boost attendance after last year’s figures fell at an alarming rate.

In 2025, 218,839 people flocked to Prestbury Park; that number was down more than 10,000 from the previous year, when attendance was just south of 230,000.

On Women’s Day, which was a Wednesday last year, only 41,949 people came through the doors; This was the lowest crowd figure seen on a single day in a quarter of a century.

Many punters blamed the rising costs of attending and enjoying Cheltenham as the main factor in no-shows; In 2025 a pint of Guinness stood at £7.80, almost on the £8 mark.

And in response to all of the above, the price of a pint of Guinness at this year’s Festival has been reduced by 30p to £7.50. A half pint, meanwhile, costs £3.75 – 15p less than last year.

This full price cut, spearheaded by chief executive Guy Lavender, means the popular alcoholic drink remains the same price as it will be in 2022.

Guinness pint falls 15p to £3.75 as Cheltenham look to attract more fans

Race fans spotted enjoying £7.50 Guinness ahead of first day at Cheltenham

Speaking about the now-confirmed decision in September, former MCC chairman Lavender said: ‘The price of a pint of Guinness is a highly emotional issue for many people, but it is an important one.

‘You can’t compare it, Cheltenham is an event in itself but it was pretty clear it was something people cared about. So my view was that we needed to do something about it.

‘Instead of raising prices as I expect every venue to do, I felt we needed to reduce these prices and cover the costs ourselves. This is a decision we have made to implement throughout the season.

‘If you look at other sports and events I think there will be very few that fit that price point. This is a conscious and purposeful move to deliver better value to racing fans. This isn’t about selling more pints, it’s an indication that we’re responding to value challenges. I hope it’s well received.’

Besides Guinness, there are many price changes, albeit small, compared to last year.

Guinness 0.0 is also cheaper; a pint is now £7.30 and a half pint is £3.65, slightly lower than last year’s prices of £7.40 and £3.70.

There’s good news for those looking to indulge, with 25ml of Morgan’s Spiced, Smirnoff, Gordon’s Gin and Gordon’s Pink Gin dropping 20p to £7.

A 330ml bottle of premium lager or a 500ml can of Doom Bar is still the same price of £7.40 and £7.80. A 25ml shot of Jamesons is also still £7.30.

However, those wanting to drink non-alcoholic beer will face inflation of 10p on a 330ml bottle, now costing up to £4.10. Wines for those who like a house white, house red or house rosé have also increased by 30p to £10.