Goodwood Festival of Speed hospitality is the usual starting question, but Goodwood is one estate in West Sussex with three headline events in 2027, and they are very different days out. The Festival of Speed is a four-day celebration of cars and bikes in the parkland around Goodwood House. Qatar Goodwood Festival, once known as Glorious Goodwood, is five days of flat racing. The Revival is a weekend in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s at the motor circuit. Guests often ask which to choose, or whether hospitality is worth it at each. This guide compares them on dates, setting, dress and how hospitality works.
We do not run Goodwood and we do not publish prices. Hospitality is booked through Goodwood’s official channels, and we arrange it on request, with the travel and the stay around it.
The three events, side by side
- Festival of Speed: 15 to 18 July 2027, Goodwood House, Chichester. Motoring.
- Qatar Goodwood Festival: 27 to 31 July 2027, Goodwood Racecourse, Chichester. Racing.
- Goodwood Revival: 17 to 19 September 2027, Goodwood Motor Circuit, Chichester. Historic motor racing in period dress.
All three are on our events calendar: see July and September. Our English summer season guide places them alongside Epsom, Ascot, Henley and Wimbledon.
Festival of Speed, 15 to 18 July
The Festival of Speed is held in the parkland around Goodwood House, with its famous hillclimb through the grounds. Goodwood lists it as a four-day event, Thursday 15 to Sunday 18 July 2027. Tickets for 2027 were not on sale when we checked on 19 October; Goodwood invites you to sign up for ticket alerts. Tickets are digital, delivered through the Goodwood Tickets app.
It is a day for people who like cars, and also for people who like watching cars with other people. Expect a day on your feet in a park. Goodwood says hospitality packages are available for entertaining friends, family or business contacts, and details for 2027 are on its hospitality page. We have not seen a published dress code for the Festival of Speed, so we do not state one; dress for walking and weather.
Under-18s must be accompanied by an adult with a valid ticket. Children aged 12 and under need a free child admission ticket, ordered in advance and subject to availability. Ages 13 to 21 can buy a reduced young person ticket.
Qatar Goodwood Festival, 27 to 31 July
Goodwood’s own page lists the 2027 festival as 27 to 31 July, which makes it Tuesday to Saturday, and calls it a five-day festival. Day 3 is Thursday 29 July. Our own calendar showed these dates as to be confirmed, and Goodwood now publishes them. Check them again when tickets are released, because race programmes can be reorganised.
This is the most traditional of the three. It is a racing event with a long social history, and Goodwood itself links the festival to a hat tradition that began when King Edward VII wore a linen suit and a Panama hat in place of a morning suit. Goodwood publishes dress guidance for each enclosure on a separate page, so read the one that matches your ticket rather than relying on the festival’s reputation.
Hospitality at the racecourse is a real choice here. Goodwood offers private boxes and restaurant tables with views of the track or the Parade Ring, and says the Secret Garden and the Final Furlong are exclusive to Qatar Goodwood Festival. Hospitality for the 2027 season is on sale now, per Goodwood. If you are entertaining, a seated lunch with a view of the finish is usually more comfortable than a public enclosure on a busy day. Our horse racing page explains how we arrange racing hospitality.
Goodwood Revival, 17 to 19 September
The Revival is held at the Goodwood Motor Circuit, and it is the one where the visitors are as much a part of the event as the cars. Goodwood says dressing up is part of the fun but there is no pressure; the focus is on the styles of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. It also rules out controversial uniforms or clothing and costumes or accessories that appropriate another culture, and bans replica weapons. Parking is free for all attendees, per Goodwood.
Tickets were not on sale when we checked. Goodwood offers a ticket alert, and says a range of hospitality packages is available for the Revival. If you are going as a group, agree early whether you will dress in period, so that everyone can plan their clothes.
Which should you choose?
- You love cars and want a lively day: the Festival of Speed.
- You are entertaining clients or family and want a seated lunch: Qatar Goodwood Festival, with a hospitality table.
- You want something unlike anything else in the diary: the Revival, and plan the clothes early.
If you can only do one, the question is what your guests will enjoy for a whole day. A racing lunch suits mixed company; the Festival of Speed suits people who are happy to stand and talk about engines.
Doing more than one
The Festival of Speed ends on Sunday 18 July and Qatar Goodwood Festival begins on Tuesday 27 July, so the two sit nine days apart, close enough that guests staying in the area sometimes ask about both. The Revival is two months later, in September. A reasonable pattern is to choose one summer event for clients or family and keep the Revival for friends who enjoy dressing up. Whatever you choose, ask for confirmation in writing of the day, the enclosure and what is included before you commit.
Getting there and staying nearby
All three events are near Chichester, in West Sussex, though each has its own site on the estate. Rooms in Chichester and the surrounding villages fill early for each of them, and the best houses go first. We recommend booking the stay before the tickets, and agreeing a collection point with your driver in advance, since roads around the estate are slow on the busiest days.
How we help
VIP and hospitality only. At all three Goodwood meetings we arrange hospitality, with the travel and the stay around it. We do not sell general admission or standard tickets; those are sold by each organiser directly.
See the events calendar for the dates in order. We arrange hospitality where Goodwood offers it, along with a chauffeur, a room and a table the night before or after. We do not promise availability until Goodwood has confirmed it, and prices are confirmed in writing before anything is committed. Message our WhatsApp concierge with your dates, your party and which event you have in mind.