Cheltenham Festivals

Analysis

Cheltenham Festivals is a registered charity in England and Wales, based in Gloucestershire. It was registered in March 1967, 59 years ago. Its declared purposes cover education/training and arts/culture/heritage/science, which this site groups under arts, culture, heritage and science. Legally it is a charitable company (Companies House number 00456573). It says it provides buildings/facilities/open space and provides services.

In the financial year ending December 2025, Cheltenham Festivals reported income of £7.5m and spending of £7.2m, spending 97% of its income. Across the 5 years on record, from December 2021 to December 2025, income grew from £4.2m to £7.5m (+80%), an average of +16% a year. The sharpest change came in the year to December 2022, when income rose by 68%. Over the whole period it spent 102% of the income it received.

Among 17,634 England and Wales charities whose main cause is arts, culture, heritage and science and that reported income, Cheltenham Festivals sits at the 99th percentile: it is larger than about 99% of them. Against every charity in England and Wales with reported income it ranks in the 99th percentile. Charities of a similar size with the same main cause include Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru-The Books Council of Wales (£7.5m), UK Storyhouse Limited (£7.6m) and The Watershed Arts Trust Limited (£7.5m).

In its latest detailed accounts, income came from charitable activities 53%, donations and legacies 27% and trading 19%. Charitable activities took 91% of spending and raising funds 8.5%. Reserves of £318k would cover about 1 months of spending at that rate. It employed 47 people.