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sport · Saturday 4 July 2026 · 14:00 
Bellewstown Summer Festival - Final Day
At Bellewstown Racecourse · Bellewstown, Co. Meath (Drogheda area)
At Bellewstown Racecourse · Bellewstown, Co. Meath (Drogheda area)
The closing day of the Bellewstown Summer Festival is a fixture with genuine character. Racing at Bellewstown has been recorded since 1726, and the course on the Hill of Crockafotha in Co. Meath still feels like the real thing - a left-handed track just over a mile with sweeping views across the Boyne Valley to the Mountains of Mourne and east to the Irish Sea. The July festival is the heartbeat of the racing year here, drawing crowds from Drogheda, Dundalk and the whole Boyne Valley for three consecutive evenings. Saturday wraps the meeting with the jump card, and the final-day atmosphere tends to be the most charged of the three.
Gates open for a 14:00 start on Saturday 4 July. The card mixes National Hunt and flat racing, and previous festival Saturdays have featured competitive handicap hurdles with strong prize money. The course is genuinely testing - the undulations and a kink in the bend before the home straight regularly catch out horses without experience of the track, which keeps the racing unpredictable. Off the track, Bellewstown runs as a traditional-style meeting: ice cream vans, burger and fish-and-chip stalls, and a fairground on the hill. The hospitality marquee is usually sold out well in advance, but general admission gives you a full view of the action from the open stands and the famous hillside. Tickets start from €20.
Bellewstown village sits roughly halfway between Drogheda and Duleek on the R150, about 8 km south-west of Drogheda town. By car, the M1 motorway puts you about 40 minutes north of Dublin - leave at junction 8 (Julianstown) and follow the festival signage. There is parking on site. Bus Eireann serves Drogheda from Dublin and other towns; from Drogheda a taxi or pre-arranged lift is the practical option as public transport to the hill itself is limited on race days. Book accommodation in Drogheda or further afield well ahead for festival weekend.
The Hill of Crockafotha gives you a view across the Boyne Valley that is hard to match from ground level, and the village itself is quiet and unhurried between race meetings. The Boyne Valley as a whole has a lot going on in summer, from the passage tombs at Newgrange and Knowth to the estuary at Drogheda. There is more to see in Bellewstown and across Co. Meath.
Heading to Bellewstown Racecourse in Bellewstown? Meath has plenty more to see. Read the Bellewstown area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.