Epsom targets 60,000 crowd with new DerbyFest hill experience

Epsom is trying to sell the Derby as a day out again, not just a race. That is the real wager behind DerbyFest on The Hill: if the festival feels bigger, louder and more social, the crowd might follow.

Jim Allen, who took over as general manager of Epsom Downs in October 2024, said he expected more than 60,000 people to attend this year’s Derby festival. That would mark a meaningful rebound for a meeting that has been fighting soft attendance figures, including last year’s Derby day total of 22,312, the lowest in modern history and 41% down on 2019.

The response is not just marketing. The Jockey Club has backed the 2026 overhaul with a £6 million investment, raising the Derby purse by £500,000 to £2 million and moving the Coronation Cup back to the Saturday, where it will be worth £1 million, up from £450,000. Free entry for under-18s, free parking, temporary inside-track stands and new hospitality offers are all part of the push to make the meeting easier to sell as a full festival, not a single-race appointment.

The biggest visible change is DerbyFest, being created on The Hill with Queensberry Promotions, led by Frank Warren. The Hill is being turned into a free-to-enter fan and family zone with live entertainment, including live artists, DJ sets and tribute bands across both Friday and Saturday. Thousands had already signed up, a sign that Epsom is trying to change the feel of the place as much as the gate count.

That matters because the Derby’s value has always been tied to atmosphere as much as sport. The meeting is 245 years old and has had 245 different winners, which gives it a stature few races anywhere can match. But a famous race can lose some of its pull if the stands look thin and the energy drops off. Epsom knows that. The racecourse is betting that a stronger on-course experience, especially on the hill, can make the festival feel like an occasion again.

There is some evidence the market has already started to stir. Racecourse Association figures showed Derby Festival attendance rose 4.6% from 2023 to 2024, with about 27,000 people attending last year’s meeting after 25,413 in 2023. That is still far below the 38,044 who came in 2019 and the 35,258 in 2018, but it gives Epsom a base to build from as it targets 100,000 festivalgoers by 2030. The message is plain: the Derby is being rebuilt as a live event, and the atmosphere on The Hill is central to the plan.