Area Festival Review

Area Festivals have become an integral part of the sport since their launch in 2000.  What started as an aspirational championship has grown into the largest participation series under British Dressage.  In 2015, over 7000 qualifications were achieved from a membership of roughly 14,500 and nearly 4000 combinations took part, that’s 28% of the membership.  What’s more impressive is that  Petplan Equine has been on board since their inception and we’d like to thank them for their loyal support.

As part of our strategic review of all championships, last month BD’s internal Championship working group met with some riders, organisers and judges to discuss ideas for Area Festivals in 2017 and beyond.

All were in agreement that the Area Festivals play a vital role in the competition structure within BD. However, due to the increasing demand for the competitions, the current structure is operating at maximum capacity, resulting in some loss in the quality of the member experience.

There was also a strong feeling that over the years the Area Festivals had lost some of their original ‘grassroots’ feel and the rules allow some highly competent combinations to contest Area Festivals, when perhaps they should be following the Regional Championship pathway.

Early monitoring of the new competition structure has provided data around competitors in the Silver section, which could affect the Area Festivals. Some of the more capable combinations currently contesting Silver realistically should be Gold, while some in Gold are not high achievers and could be in Silver to give them a chance at Area Festival qualification.  It’s still early days so we’ll continue to monitor and review the statistics closely.

Click here for the key points resulting from the discussion.

The meeting generated lots of ideas; however, no concrete conclusions were reached. We now need your help in shaping what the Area Festivals will look like in the future. We’d be grateful if you’d participate in this short survey relating to Area Festivals to provide us with the insight we need to produce the right level of competition for members.

BD would like to take the opportunity to thank the riders, organisers and judges who participated in the meeting and giving up their valuable time to help British Dressage.

The survey closes on 31 May 2016.

Further discussion around Area Festivals will take place at the BD members meeting during the Winter Championships at Hartpury on Thursday 07 April at 6.30pm where everyone is welcome to attend and provide their feedback.