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Visit Cayman Islands Cheltenham Cricket Festival | Message from the CEO

2 July 2021

With the 2021 Visit Cayman Islands Cheltenham Cricket Festival starting on Monday we wanted to write to update you with some of the changes at the Festival for this year and also to look forward to some of the things you will be able to enjoy.

“Cheltenham” is, for many, the highlight of the cricketing year and we know how much it was missed by all of us in 2020. We’ve had to change the layout of the ground at very short notice for this year’s Festival, in response to the Government’s extension of the COVID restrictions. With this in mind the Festival site has been built with visitor welfare and safety at the heart of it. There are some significant changes for 2021 but we know that you will all understand the need for some of these changes with the current restrictions. We hope that many of them will be good additions to the Festival that might well become regular features in the years to come.

We also welcome a new Festival partner in Visit Cayman Islands who will be bringing a little taste of the Caribbean to the Festival. We’d encourage you to stop by and say hello to the team there and find out more about their amazing competitions for flights and a holiday to the stunning Cayman Islands!

We have some truly mouth-watering cricket to look forward to with two County Championship matches and 2 sold out T20 Blast fixtures. We’re really sorry that due to current restrictions that some of you who wanted to attend the T20 Blast fixtures won’t be able to. Those supporters that have had their tickets refunded will, of course, be prioritised at next year’s Festival.

We know many of you have questions about how the Festival will work this year and we’ve tried to anticipate some of these questions in the list below which we hope you find useful:

Transport and Parking:

Parking on College Lawn will be available to car park pass holders, Premier Club members, “blue badge” holders and hospitality guests only. We already have a full allocation of members with car parking passes and therefore there will no “paid for parking” on College Lawn on any day but there will be plenty of spaces at Reeves Field, a little further down Thirlestaine Road.   

The College ground and Cheltenham in general is well served by public transport and we would encourage visitors to travel to the Festival as sustainably as possible should they feel comfortable doing so.

Please note that during the second week of the Visit Cayman Islands Cheltenham Cricket Festival there will be some engineering works on the rail line between Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway and supporters travelling by train should check for any revised timings

Tickets and entrance into the ground:

All gates will operate as normal; namely from the College Lawn car park, the members’ gate on Thirlestaine Road and the gate adjacent to the College Chapel.

We have sold out our two T20 matches but do have tickets available for every day of our County Championship fixtures. Tickets will not be available on the gate but can be bought in advance from our ticketing site here

Tickets will be sent out digitally and use of these digital tickets (e.g. on a smart phone) is preferred. A print at home option is also available to any visitors.

It is essential that all visitors (including members) bring their e-ticket or printed copy with them. Access to the ground will not be granted on a membership card alone.

Spectators will be able to leave the ground and return as they wish but please remember to get your ticket scanned on exiting the ground as well as on arrival.

Food and drink are allowed to be brought into the ground in compliance with the ground regulations on your ticket. Please note the regulations prohibit alcohol being brought into the T20 Blast matches.

COVID-19 regulations:

Whilst providing evidence of recent (within 48 hours) negative lateral flow tests or proof of double vaccination is NOT a condition of entry we would encourage all visitors who are not yet fully vaccinated to take a lateral flow test before arriving at the ground.

Masks are not required when eating, drinking or when in your seat but are required to be worn when moving around the ground.

We will not be providing paper programmes or scorecards at the Festival but we would encourage supporters to utilise our match centre in following the match here or by downloading our new Glos Cricket App here

We will not be running the “Hub” at the 2021 Festival.

Additional sanitisation points will be available around the ground.

Seating:

Due to the need to continue to socially distance it is simply not practical to have stands in place at the ground.  Individual seats will be provided and visitors are welcome to bring their own chairs should they wish to.

Toilets:

Toilet provision will be as “single” toilets around the ground. There will be no “multiple unit” toilets on-site.  Accessible toilets will also be provided. 

Hospitality and the Premier Lounge:

Hospitality will once again be in its normal spot along the boundary adjacent to College Lawn. We have new marquees in place this year which look fantastic and are a great addition to the ground and the way it looks. They are completely open on the pitch-facing side and provide for plenty of fresh air and a great view.

The Premier Lounge will also be open for Premier Club members – it will be situated at the top of the ground adjacent to College Lawn.

The Old Patesians will be on-site as normal offering a warm welcome to all of their members.

Shop:

We have a new mobile shop for 2021 which will be in place at the College Chapel end of the ground and will also act as a base for any enquiries that supporters may have.

Please note will be operating in a “cashless” environment across the ground (including shop and catering etc) for this year.

Catering options:

We welcome Fosters back as our catering partner for this year but rather than just serving our hospitality guests they will be providing refreshment and nourishment to all visitors to the ground. In particular we are looking forward to welcoming you all to the “Pig and Pallet”, our new pub come restaurant. There will also be some amazing food stalls around the ground and a fantastic selection of drinks as provided by our partners at Bath Ales and St. Austell.

The College will also be offering delicious takeaway options from their unique location in the College dining hall.

Of course, the Visit Cayman Islands Cheltenham Cricket Festival would not be the same without Anna and Paolo and their delicious ice creams and it will be lovely to see their vans around the ground once more.

We have also installed a number of areas of rain / sun cover around the ground; handily located near the bars and food outlets but please don’t forget sun cream and a brolly as cover is limited!

Moving around the ground:

Please note that for the 2021 Visit Cayman Islands Cheltenham Cricket Festival it will not be possible to walk all the way around the boundary edge as the area in front of the pavilion will be closed to the public for the duration of the tournament. We’re very sorry that this is not possible but based on ECB guidance under the current COVID restrictions we have to reserve the whole of this area for the “Players and Match Officials Area (PMOA)”. Our players are really looking forward to returning to Cheltenham and seeing you all but we must also ask that you don’t ask for selfies / autographs etc as it is sadly in breach of the guidance the players are playing under.

The Members’ area, which runs from the side of the pavilion down to the Chapel, will operate as normal.

Finally I wanted to echo the sentiments that David Jones, our Chair, expressed in his note of the 18th June; it has been fantastic to see and speak to many of you in person of late and it has been hugely heart-warming to see so many of the Gloucestershire “family” in person. Thank you for all of your ongoing patience, kindness and understanding whilst we work through these last few weeks of restrictions and the impact they have on delivering matches; apologies if our response to your questions has taken longer than normal.

I know that the Visit Cayman Islands Cheltenham Cricket Festival may look different to previous years but also know that with so many of you attending and so much great cricket to look forward to that it will still be the wonderful and much loved Festival that it is. At such a crucial point in the season we can’t wait for you all to get behind our Gloucestershire team and to cheer them on.

Detailed match information will follow through the normal channels.

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