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The Cheltenham Festival is the pinnacle event of the jump-racing calendar, and this year will be bigger than ever as we celebrate 100 years of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. In March 2023, Galopin Des Champs and Paul Townend became legends and wrote themselves into the history books with a scintillating performance in the Gold Cup - racing's most esteemed race. The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the one they all long to win, many times over, above all others. Greats become legends and legends rewrite history. With four breath-taking days and 28 races, including 14 Grade 1 races, nowhere beats Cheltenham for the unrelenting prestige, competition, and pure excitement. BUY TICKETS 
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After a brief hiatus, one of Cheltenham's most cherished restaurants will reopen its doors this December. A true icon in the town's culinary landscape, The Mayflower will aim to rekindle the flavours that have long been etched into the memories of locals and visitors alike, with new owners Jay Ahmed and Michael Raphel paying homage to the Kong family who created and ran this much-loved restaurant for over 40 years. Diners at The Mayflower can expect a meticulously crafted menu that celebrates the diverse regional cuisines of China. The menu will showcase a myriad of influences, combining the best of classic Chinese dishes to Cantonese and East Asian favourites, all created with a passion for uniquely rooted recipes yet with a contemporary flair, showcasing the wonderful flavours of east Asia. The restaurant's interior is a blend of modern elegance and traditional Chinese design elements, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere. Reservations will be open from mid December and bookings can be made through the restaurant's website www.themayflowerrestaurant.co.uk or by calling 01242 522426. You can sign up to receive news from The Mayflower by clicking on the link above.   Start your Christmas celebrations off in style with a weekend of top-quality racing on Friday 15 and Saturday 16 December. With the big day just days away, The Christmas Meeting brings joy and excitement for all. This two-day meeting is one of the highlights of the Christmas racing calendar and kick starts the festive sporting season. Across the two days there is top quality racing on offer, with a total of 14 races to enjoy, from the adrenaline rush of the Glenfarclas Cross-Country race to the The Virgin Bet December Gold Cup. With Grade 2 and 3 racing action, including some highly competitive Cheltenham Festival trials, including the JCB Triumph Hurdle trial and the Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle trial, it is a key race meeting for Cheltenham Festival clues. Off the track, they is a heap of entertainment for all ages across the weekend. Friday will be filled with Christmas cheer across the racecourse with entertainment from The Hipcats performing Christmas hits on the Quevega Stage to Got2Sing Choir entertaining racegoers with Christmas Carols throughout the day. Saturday is their Christmas Extravaganza themed family fun, including meeting Santa and his elves in Santa’s Grotto. Santa’s elves will also be there to help with your Christmas crafts including - letters to Santa, making a magical Christmas wish to leave on the special night and designing snowflakes. Pampered Pony rides will also be available from Santa's Grotto on Saturday at 10:00 till 15:30 for children of all ages to enjoy around the tented village. The Hipcats and Got2Sing will also return on Saturday for festive music and entertainment throughout the day. The Tattersalls Cheltenham Sales are back on the Friday of The Christmas Meeting, the racing sales will offer a select group of winning and placed point-to-pointers and form horses after racing in the sales ring. Under 18’s race free and do not require a ticket to enter. For all the information and tickets, please visit www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/cheltenham   Returning to Cheltenham Racecourse on March 23 2024, the gala dinner offers a night of fine dining and entertainment, with plenty of opportunities to raise money for the 4Ed campaign, established in July 2022 by Gloucester Rugby as a way of generating awareness and funds following Ed Slater’s diagnosis with Motor Neurone Disease (MND). The 2023 event saw over £250,000 raised for the campaign through ticket sales, silent and live auctions, and a raffle. The money generated contributed significantly towards adaptations to Ed’s home as well as creating precious memories for him, his wife, Jo, and their three young children. With 4Ed now adopted by the Gloucester Rugby Charitable Foundation as a restricted fund, all money raised from next year’s dinner will be used to provide bursaries for families affected by MND in Gloucestershire to access support, including funding vital equipment, changes to the home, family days out, or psychological provision.
For all information, visit www.gloucesterrugby.co.uk  Cheltenham Jazz Festival is offering audiences a sneak-peak of their exciting 2024 programme, releasing tickets for six of the acts that will grace its storied stages in the spring.
Set to headline the Festival’s iconic Big Top in 2024 are singer-songwriter Jack Savoretti and pop reggae royalty UB40. Electronica pioneers Morcheeba will also take the stage. Superstar saxophonist and former Jazz Warrior Courtney Pine and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Dee Dee Bridgewater will also make the trip to Cheltenham. And West African dance legends Orchestra Baobab will perform in a double-headline show with Afro Jazz innovators Nubiyan Twist. “This first release of tickets for our exciting 2024 programme reflects the Festival’s long-standing commitment to celebrating the influences of jazz across all musical genres,” says Ian George, Head of Programming for the Jazz Festival and co-CEO of parent charity Cheltenham Festivals. “We celebrate all the genres that have jazz in their DNA by bringing the best of contemporary UK, US and European jazz to our Festival Village and across the town of Cheltenham,” he explains “The breadth of jazz’s influence is unique. From pop to soul, blues to world music, we are always so spoiled for fantastic musicians at Cheltenham. From orchestras and big bands to club sessions and late-night jams, the Festival runs the gamut of the music – as this line-up proves!” Jack Savoretti has appeared at Cheltenham once before, and is excited to return to a Festival he believes has a unique character. “Cheltenham Jazz Festival is one of those Festivals you always want to play, our first show there was incredible and I look forward to returning next year.” The Festival also always looks forward to the future of the music, playing host to fresh new names and pushing the boundaries of the genre’s definition. Morcheeba’s Skye Edwards thinks this commitment to fostering the next generation is more important than ever. “We're looking forward to performing at Cheltenham. It has such a great reputation for having an eclectic mix of bands and genres. There’s a place for new talent alongside the established names which makes this a very vibrant festival for everyone!” Tickets for the early announcement shows will be available to the public from 27 November via cheltenhamfestivals/jazz/. The full programme for Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2024 will be revealed in February.  Brand new for the 2023/24 season Cheltenham Racecourse has launched The Mandarin, their first walk in restaurant. For our non Cheltenham Festival fixtures, racegoers will be able to walk in and request a table in The Mandarin. The restaurant offers a glorious and cosy Cotswold pub feel. Its impressive interior takes its inspiration from a traditional country stable. Here you will find exposed wooden beams, quirky racing artefacts and exquisite seasonal food and drink. Racegoers can simply walk in and request a table and tuck into delicious pub favourites such as The ‘Bookies’ favourite starter Traditional Scotch Eggs and the Local Burger. Priced at £65 per person for 2 courses and £85 for 3 courses, with children’s meals offered at half price, it’s the perfect destination for those looking to make their Raceday experience a little more special. Tables are available for 2-8 people and will be allocated on a first come first served basis. The restaurant is named after legendary horse Mandarin who was the winner of the 1962 Gold Cup. He was ridden by the legendary jockey, Fred Winter and trained by Fulke Walwyn, a four-time Gold Cup winning trainer. The Mandarin is well situated on the ground floor of the main grandstand and is in close proximity to the Parade Ring. www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/cheltenham/plan-your-day/food-drink/the-mandarin-walk-in-restaurant/
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Actual restaurants in the North Cotswolds are few and far between. There are lots of superb pubs that are more of a restaurant than a pub nowadays and many hotels that boast restaurants but lack that buzz that an independent can offer.
The Old Butchers is family-run, small and far from pretentious. Pete is chef, while wife Louise takes care of the front of house, armed with her daughter and others of a similar age. The tables are always full, yet there's never a feeling of sitting on top of other diners or being involved in their conversations.
We took a couple of friends for their first ever visit. We'd hyped it up quite a bit for a good fortnight or so which can sometimes be risky, but we've never experienced anything less than brilliant on the (probably a dozen by now) occasions we have been there.
The menu is largely European, full of seafood, steak over charcoal and seasonal game. There's a "Lobster" swing sign outside and lots of it on the menu.
A bottle of Sauvignon Blanc (the wine list is very good) and a couple of pints of Hawkstone (Clarkson's Lager) arrive as we survey the menu. Our friends are the type of people who study the menu before they arrive and pretty much know want they are going to order. I'm the opposite.
"Fancy sharing the 1kg T-Bone?" throwing a slight curveball to my friend. He agrees, but then proceeds to tell me that he is a medium steak eater. I'm a rare. We agree on medium-rare.
If Mussels Mariniere is on the menu I'm probably ordering it, along with a spoon for the glorious creamy, garlicky goodness. It was a generous serving for a starter and these were absolutely massive.
The others tucked into Cornish Scallops, served in a shell in a delicious pool of Nduja Butter which offered a bit of a kick.
The Prawn Cocktail, which usually comes with a Bloody Mary sorbet on top. However our friend asked if this could come on the side as she "didn't really trust it". She loved it.
And the Pate en Croute, pickled walnut, cornichons and punchy wasabi, mustardy dip.
Our mains arrived soon after.
They had divided the T-bone onto separate plates so we didn't have to fight over it. It was on the rarer side of medium-rare, beautifully pink with juicy bits of fat on some of the slices. It came with fries, salad and a choice of sauces, we both opted for peppercorn. The meat cut like the proverbial butter and was deliciously rich and salty. It was magical. I would order steak out more often if it was all like this.
The Cornish Monkfish & Prawn Tandoori, with Spinach, a Lentil Dahl and raita looked incredible and apparently it was. As was the 1/2 Cornish Native Lobster & Garlic Butter and the immense Crab, Truffle Fries that were ordered to accompany it.
Pudding was replaced by more wine, while we all gushed over what we had just eaten and started planning our next visit which, I imagine, won't be too far away.
theoldbutchers.squarespace.com
The Old Butchers is family-run, small and far from pretentious. Pete is chef, while wife Louise takes care of the front of house, armed with her daughter and others of a similar age. The tables are always full, yet there's never a feeling of sitting on top of other diners or being involved in their conversations.
We took a couple of friends for their first ever visit. We'd hyped it up quite a bit for a good fortnight or so which can sometimes be risky, but we've never experienced anything less than brilliant on the (probably a dozen by now) occasions we have been there.
The menu is largely European, full of seafood, steak over charcoal and seasonal game. There's a "Lobster" swing sign outside and lots of it on the menu.
A bottle of Sauvignon Blanc (the wine list is very good) and a couple of pints of Hawkstone (Clarkson's Lager) arrive as we survey the menu. Our friends are the type of people who study the menu before they arrive and pretty much know want they are going to order. I'm the opposite.
"Fancy sharing the 1kg T-Bone?" throwing a slight curveball to my friend. He agrees, but then proceeds to tell me that he is a medium steak eater. I'm a rare. We agree on medium-rare.
If Mussels Mariniere is on the menu I'm probably ordering it, along with a spoon for the glorious creamy, garlicky goodness. It was a generous serving for a starter and these were absolutely massive.
The others tucked into Cornish Scallops, served in a shell in a delicious pool of Nduja Butter which offered a bit of a kick.
The Prawn Cocktail, which usually comes with a Bloody Mary sorbet on top. However our friend asked if this could come on the side as she "didn't really trust it". She loved it.
And the Pate en Croute, pickled walnut, cornichons and punchy wasabi, mustardy dip.
Our mains arrived soon after.
They had divided the T-bone onto separate plates so we didn't have to fight over it. It was on the rarer side of medium-rare, beautifully pink with juicy bits of fat on some of the slices. It came with fries, salad and a choice of sauces, we both opted for peppercorn. The meat cut like the proverbial butter and was deliciously rich and salty. It was magical. I would order steak out more often if it was all like this.
The Cornish Monkfish & Prawn Tandoori, with Spinach, a Lentil Dahl and raita looked incredible and apparently it was. As was the 1/2 Cornish Native Lobster & Garlic Butter and the immense Crab, Truffle Fries that were ordered to accompany it.
Pudding was replaced by more wine, while we all gushed over what we had just eaten and started planning our next visit which, I imagine, won't be too far away.
theoldbutchers.squarespace.com
T-bone steak, served with fries, salad and peppercorn sauce
Cornish Scallops & ‘Nduja Butter
Cornish Monkfish & Prawn Tandoori, Spinach & Lentil Dahl, Raita
Pictures of some of the stunning cuisine that you can expect to see at YOKU have appeared on social media.
YOKU is a brand-new Tokyo-vogue Japanese Sushi and Asian dining experience with resplendent Bar Tokyo cocktail bar, opening inside No.131 in Cheltenham.
The restaurant will open its doors on Friday 11th March 2022.
www.no131.com/yoku
YOKU is a brand-new Tokyo-vogue Japanese Sushi and Asian dining experience with resplendent Bar Tokyo cocktail bar, opening inside No.131 in Cheltenham.
The restaurant will open its doors on Friday 11th March 2022.
www.no131.com/yoku
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