The Challenge
Punchestown is a different kind of event every day of the week.
Tuesday and Wednesday belong to the racing purists, focused on the William Hill Champion Chase and the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup. Thursday brings the stamina test of the Champion Stayers Hurdle and the cross country La Touche over banks, walls and brush.
Friday is the social peak – Boodles Champion Hurdle Day, Ladies Day, Bollinger Best Dressed, the Sky Bar After Party – with the highest crowd density of the Festival. Saturday is Ballymore Family Day, the celebratory finale, where the season champions are crowned.
Our brief was to support that whole story, every day, with consistent operational standards from gate-open to gate-close, across a venue, a sport and a social programme that all carry their own complexity.
The Solution
Our engagement covered three connected workstreams: planning, documentation, and live Event Control deployment.
On the planning side, we developed the full suite of operational documentation that governs the Festival’s safe delivery – Event Management Plan, Risk Assessments, Show Stop Procedure, Weather Management Plan, grid maps and supporting documents. Each was developed to secure sign-off from the venue, statutory agencies and the wider stakeholder set.
On stakeholder engagement, our work involved sustained liaison with the Health Service Executive, An Garda Síochána, Civil Defence, Kildare Fire and Rescue Service, and the range of established venue contractors operating across the Festival footprint.
On live deployment, we embedded a five-person team into the venue’s Event Control structure – Deputy Event Controller, Safety Officer, Deputy Safety Officer and two Safety Advisors – working alongside Richie and the Punchestown team across all five days of the live operation.
The Result
The 2026 Punchestown Festival was delivered safely across all five days. The engagement is contracted on a three-year arrangement, with continuity into 2027 and 2028, and we are proud to have been brought in alongside the Punchestown team for what is one of the great fixtures of the Irish sporting calendar.
Our Part
Punchestown is one of the great Irish sporting events. The continuity of its heritage, the depth of the racing, the warmth of the social atmosphere, and the way the venue carries the mood of an entire season finale – all of it makes the Festival what it is.
Our part is to make sure the Festival lands safely, every day, for every demographic, across the full five-day window.
Services we provided include:
- Event Management Plan authorship
- Risk Assessment development
- Show Stop Procedure
- Weather Management Plan
- Grid maps and supporting operational documentation
- Statutory agency liaison
- Stakeholder management
- Live Event Control deployment
- On-site Safety Team across the five-day Festival
