Nearly 1,000 horses to delight The Queen: 90th birthday celebration tickets on sale

Nearly 1,000 horses will attend The Queen’s 90th birthday celebration next May.

Tickets sold out within hours, though there will be a second chance to buy tickets.

An extra 5,000 will be available through a ballot in the new year.

The 90-minute spectacular will take place on 12-15 May 2016 in Home Park Private, Windsor Castle, with members of the Royal Family attending every night and The Queen herself at the final show.

The 900-odd horses and 1,500 performers will take spectators through a story covering major events in The Queen’s life, from her birth in 1926, through World War II, her coronation in 1953 and other landmarks in her long reign.

Many British and international acts have confirmed their attendance, including the Oman Royal Cavalry, Chilean Huasos, New Zealand Army Band, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Azerbaijan Cossack Riders, State Carriages from the Royal Mews, South Australian Police Band, the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, the Fijian Army Dancers and Band, 100 Military and Commonwealth Pipers and the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.

There will also be references to The Queen’s own horses and ponies, plus her dogs and even racing pigeons.

For those who can’t get tickets, plans are afoot for a pre-performance party on The Long Walk in Windsor Great Park on the final evening, with some 5,000 free tickets will be made available through a ballot to be held in the New Year. The final performance will be live on giant pop-up screens in front of Windsor Castle.

Celebration producer and director Simon Brooks-Ward said his team had worked hard to make the celebration unique.

“We’re especially delighted with our plans to offer an extra 5,000 people the chance to be part of the celebrations through our balloted system for tickets on The Long Walk,” he said.

The Celebration is a not-for-profit event with the aim of creating a significant surplus to donate to charity.

Tickets cost £55-£195. Visit: www.hmq90.co.uk or call 0844 581 0755.

Martha Terry

H&H features editor

Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.