Galway October Racing Festival

What to Expect

Ballybrit’s racing year builds to a close with the three-day October Racing Festival, running Saturday October 24 to Monday October 26, 2026. Saturday’s card gets underway at 1.53pm, Sunday’s at 12.50pm, and the meeting finishes on Monday, October 26 with the track’s traditional Student Raceday, first race off at 12.35pm, aimed at drawing college crowds from Galway’s universities and other third-level colleges with discounted student entry and a livelier atmosphere than the two racing days before it. Where the July Summer Festival is Galway’s marquee week, the October Festival is smaller and more locally supported, but it still delivers three full days of National Hunt and Flat action as the Irish racing calendar moves into autumn, with the same grandstand, betting ring and hospitality facilities used all year at the track. Student Raceday in particular has built its own following separate from the main racing crowd, with buses laid on from college campuses in past years and a younger, louder atmosphere than a typical Ballybrit fixture, so families or racing purists may prefer to attend on the Saturday or Sunday instead.

Good to Know

• Dates and times: Saturday, October 24 (first race 1.53pm), Sunday, October 25 (first race 12.50pm), and Monday, October 26 (Student Raceday, first race 12.35pm), all at Ballybrit Racecourse.
• Student Raceday on the closing Monday is aimed at third-level students and typically carries reduced entry with valid student ID; check galwayraces.com for confirmation nearer the date.
• Entry: paid admission at the gate for all three days; specific 2026 festival pricing was not published alongside the fixture dates.
• Racecourse facilities include grandstand seating, tote and on-course bookmakers, and food and drink outlets, busiest on the Saturday and Student Raceday.
• This is the final multi-day fixture of the year at Ballybrit before racing moves into the winter National Hunt season elsewhere.
• Book accommodation in Galway city early if travelling from outside the county; October Festival weekend coincides with a busy autumn weekend for the city generally.

Getting There

Ballybrit is roughly 5km northeast of Galway city centre off the Tuam Road (N17/N18), with on-site parking and city bus services running to the racecourse across the three days.