Three Friday Nights at Goodwood Racecourse hit the stage

Glittering international acts – Claptone, Felix da Housecat and Roger Sanchez – are the promise on June 9, 16 and 23 across three nights of post-racing entertainment in the parade ring.

Patricia Dickie, Goodwood’s customer experience director, is promising even more sparkle than ever this year as the event continues to innovate and develop.

“It started in 2011,” Patricia recalls. “We did Vintage at Goodwood the year before and we’d had a couple of DJs at the racecourse the Thursday before Vintage just to tell people about all the music that was going to be going on. And it just felt great and so we thought we should do Three Friday Nights. We had three consecutive race meetings in June and they were a success but they didn't really have a story behind them or a theme. And so they became Three Friday Nights at Goodwood Racecourse in 2011. That's the thing about Goodwood: you're always trying to do things better and to improve things and that's what we developed. There were three nights that we felt just needed more personality.

“Vintage was a glorious one-off but we weren't quite sure that we could make it work again, that the stars wouldn’t necessarily align for future years but actually so many things from Vintage have actually survived in other events. Some things have gone over the road to Revival and others have now gone into Three Friday Nights. Really we just wanted to show people that there is so much to the racecourse. The Three Friday Nights are about combining racing and music and dancing and you can have all three in one day.

“For the first year we were terrified, if I'm honest. It was not that we didn't know what we were doing but just that we hadn’t done it before and in that first year we had Boy George, Chris Evans and Mark Ronson, some really big names. But we were still thinking will people come along, will people understand what it was. There were events around where you could see Meatloaf at Newmarket for instance but that was really just the venue being used as a venue. We wanted to do much more than that. We wanted the event to be really part of Goodwood.

“But you can imagine the conversations. We wanted to use the parade ring and it wasn't easy to ask the clerk of the course ‘Can we put 5,000 people on it and dance three weeks in a row a month before Glorious?’ But actually now we should be in the Guinness Book of Records for the speed with which we can put down a dance floor!

“In the first year we ended up paying 75 dancers to get on the dance floor and to lead the charge because we just didn't know whether people would do that but we certainly don't have to do that now. It has grown in a way that we could never ever have dreamed of. But now this year we want to take it up a notch. We want more sparkle. It has been going for 12 years – or ten years if you don't count the two dud years (of the pandemic). But it is important that everybody sees that we are continuously rethinking and improving and always trying to do something a bit better. We want it to be an experience. It has always been a rip-roaring success but we thought why not add a bit more of the fabulous, and that's what we're doing for this year.”

Adult admission tickets start from £40, with juniors (13-17) starting from £30. All products are expected to sell-out and can be purchased at Goodwood.com by calling 01243 755055.

For those that wish to upgrade their evening, the Sussex Lounge offers the ideal space for small and large groups. A ticket, an unlimited pizza buffet, a bar, and betting facilities are included in an introductory package of just £70. Aside from this, full hospitality with a three-course meal, drinks included, and a table for the day starts at £191 inc VAT, or exclusive use facilities for groups of up to 30 are also available.