Petplan Equine Area Festivals - summer 2020 dates released

The hugely popular Petplan Equine Area Festival series hosted by British Dressage (BD) is moving into a new era. The series which is the number one dressage competition in the BD calendar now offers riders all year-round competition with two Petplan Equine Area Festival Championships – a summer and winter Championship and a brand new Petplan Equine Music Area Festival series run alongside some of the summer fixtures.

The new format came about following comments highlighted in the BD member survey carried out earlier this year. BD has taken on board the suggestions made in the survey and the new format Petplan Equine Area Festivals was developed.

The main changes include:

• The Petplan Equine Area Festivals will take place all year round with a Winter and Summer Championship
• Qualification for the Summer 2020 Petplan Equine Area Festivals will start on December 1 2019 and end on June 30 2020
• Qualification will be on a points system based on points awarded for scores achieved
• There will be 17 or 18 Summer Area Festivals from July to August
• Horse and rider partnerships will qualify directly from a Petplan Equine Area Festival to the Petplan Equine Area Festival Summer Championships which takes place in mid- September 2020
• The Petplan Equine Area Festival Finals have been removed
• Dressage to Music classes from Prelim to Intermediate I will take place at a selection of the Summer Area Festival venues
• There will be 10 Petplan Equine Winter Area Festivals spread across the country with qualification taking place from 1 July to 31 December 2020
• The Petplan Equine Area Festival Winter Championship will take place at Hartpury College in April 2021

The Area Festival series was originally launched in 2000 and is aimed at grassroots riders. It has grown from 15 Area Festivals with 555 tests completed in its’ first year to over 6,300 dressage tests ridden in the 2018/19 series. This new format will provide more opportunities for horse and rider partnerships to qualify including the brand new Petplan Equine Dressage to Music series which will have its Championship at the Summer Petplan Equine Area Festival Championship.

2020 Summer Area Festival dates:
Eastern Easton & Otley College (Music) - 6 - 12 July
Northern Alnwick Ford (Music) - 10 - 12 July
South West  Moreton Equestrian Centre (Music) - 10 - 12 July
Southern Speedgate Farm  (Music) - 16 - 19 July
North West Kingswood (Non Music) - 16 - 19 July
South West Bicton (Non Music) - 17 - 19 July
North West Myerscough College (Non Music) - 23 - 26 July
Eastern Brook Farm  (Non Music) - 24 - 26 July
Scotland The Cabin (Music) 31 July - 2 Aug
Wales Mount Ballan (Non music) - 31 July - 2 August
Northern Port Royal EC (Music) - 1 - 2 August
Central Onley Grounds Equestrian Centre (Non Music)  7 - 9 August
North West Kings Equestrian (Music) - 13 - 16 August
Northern Sheepgate (Music) - 13 - 16 August
Central Addington (Music) - 20 - 23 August
North West Field House Equestrian Centre (Music) - 20 - 23 August
Central Sparsholt College (Non Music) - 28 - 30 August

The championship venue and date will be announced very soon.

Kate Hopkins, Marketing Consultant for Petplan Equine is looking forward to the new season of Area Festival competitions. “The encouraging and supportive ethos of the Area Festivals will still be an integral part of the new two season format, so for us the opportunity for more people to compete all year round is a really positive development. We are always so impressed with the dedication and hard work people commit to take part and I’m sure that this new format will continue to inspire our very special competitors.”

British Dressage, Chief Executive, Jason Brautigam adds; “We’ve listened to feedback from our members and taken their comments and suggestions on board. The Petplan Equine Area Festivals remain our most popular championship, so it was important to find out exactly what competitors think – as they obviously know the series inside out. The new Area Festival format will mirror the Regional offering with the same qualification mechanism and qualifying seasons – this will simplify things greatly. Providing two Championship options for Bronze and Silver riders in summer and winter will provide more opportunities to compete and qualify throughout the year. Plus, the new dressage to music element in the summer series opens up more options for riders to consider. Petplan Equine has been a brilliant partner for the Area Festivals and we’re sure this will prove to be a very positive step in the next phase of evolution for our longest-standing championship series.”

HEAD TO THE PETPLAN EQUINE AF HUB