Go behind the scenes with special tours and more at Aintree Racecourse this winter

It may be better known for horse racing – but the going’s still good when it comes to exciting events at Aintree.

The Jockey Club has launched a series of backstage tours where visitors can go behind the scenes at Aintree Racecourse to learn more about the history of one of the world’s most famous races.

And in December, it’s getting all Christmassy with a fantastic Festive Fayre when it’s odds-on the man in red will be there to make sure everyone’s feeling jolly.

Sarah Donohoe, conference and events sales manager, says:

“The focus is on horse racing, and always will be, but Aintree is a great venue in its own right.

“We only race eight days of the year, so the idea is to get people in when we’re not racing and enjoy the racecourse in a different way.”

“We have never done the backstage tours before and given people a chance to see areas they might not normally get to see so, for race fans especially, that will be fascinating.”

The Aintree Racecourse Tours will be held over four days from Wednesday, November 27 to Saturday, November 30, with two one and a half hour visits each day, at 10am and 1pm.

They will be led by historian of Aintree Racecourse, Jane Clarke, who first attended Aintree’s world-renowned Grand National back in 1973, and for years has helped share Aintree’s history.

“What she doesn’t know about Aintree isn’t worth knowing,” smiles Sarah. “And she has such a passion for the place, the tour will be incredible.”

As well as viewing 2,000 original artefacts on display, visitors will be shown around the racecourse and given a peak into areas like the weighing room that they wouldn’t normally have access to. They will be given a leaflet with information about Aintree and guided around locations around the racecourse like the legendary Red Rum’s grave and life size statue, all steeped in history.

Tickets are £25 which includes tea and coffee, and pastries.

“And we will only have groups of 25 on each tour, so it will be intimate and really personal.”

Tickets are available on Aintree Racecourse website.

The Festive Fayre at Aintree Racecourse is taking place on Sunday, December 8.

Although the morning fayre has already sold out, there are still plenty of tickets for the afternoon fun running from 1.30pm to 4pm.

The Jockey Club has partnered with popular ParentFolk for the Fayre to ‘create a festive family feel good event where play date meets Christmas party!’.

As well as a spa bar, there will be Christmas crafts and experiences workshops, and performers and DJs.

The fun will also include screenprinting, writing a letter to Santa, and a craft and code workshop; and it will be all wrapped up with a live Christmas story, silliness and a festive message from Father Christmas to make sure everyone leaves feeling full of Christmas cheer.

Sarah adds:

“The Festive Fayre will take place in our exhibition hall and it’s about creating fun not just for the kids but that all the family can get involved in together.

“It’s about enjoying the build up and the magic of Christmas, so it’ll be really special.”