Cheltenham Festival 2026 and the invisible work that holds big events together

Last week, I worked at Cheltenham Festival as part of the events team. My role was fairly simple: I drove the shuttle bus for stable staff between the stables and their accommodation, helped with check-ins, and made sure that small corner of the operation kept moving over seven days of 12-hour shifts. It wasn’t the glamorous end of the event. I wasn’t anywhere near the public-facing spectacle most people associate with Cheltenham.