Enjoy the craic

THERE is a great line-up of entertainment planned for racing fans in and around Cheltenham next week as Festival fever takes hold.

While the great and the good – and everybody in between – descend on the town they will be keen to stoke up on pre-race food and enjoy the craic before and after the day's racing.

And they won't be disappointed. As ever venues have stepped up to the mark and laid on race-themed events, live music and special food offers throughout the four days.

The Brewery has laid on an entire programme and from Tuesday until Friday the venue will be buzzing with street entertainment and live music, including giant screens to watch the day's races if you won't have tickets to the course.

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Town band Danny and the Bachelors will be playing ska and reggae, while Irish music comes from Life O'Reilly and Black Velvet.

Other bands lined up to appear are Monster Ceilidh Band, mixing folk and electronic beats, covers band Sweet Enough and The Porter Boys, with guitar and banjo-led tunes.

At Pepper Crescent in Royal Crescent, a racing brunch will be served every day, which includes the full fry-up and a newspaper to keep you abreast of the day's racing timetable.

In the Cotswold village of Guiting Power, the racing-mad Hollow Bottom pub is holding a Celebrity Preview Night on Monday, with special guests jockey Sam Twiston-Davies and ex-jockey and trainer Carl Llewellyn among the experts giving out advice and top tips.

Throughout the week there will be breakfasts from 9am, live racing shown daily and live music from 8pm every evening.

Back in Cheltenham, Monty's Bar and Brasserie in St George's Road will also be providing fuel for hungry racegoers.

This year they are offering special promotions in the cocktail bar, so people can enjoy a glass of fizz after the last race to celebrate their wins or drown their sorrows.

Every evening has a theme from Monty's Classic Cocktails on Monday evening to Mojito Night on Thursday. In between is Fizz Night on Wednesday and live music on Friday from Pete Joseph, as well as two classic cocktails for £7.50 to round off the week in style.

A hearty brunch is just the thing to set yourself for a full afternoon's racing in the brisk air of Prestbury Park – just the thing offered at the Montpellier Chapter.

Classic dishes from a juicy steak to the full English breakfast are on offer at the Cheltenham hotel from 9am to 12.30pm every day of the racing.

If a taste of the exotic is more your thing, head over to Cheltenham's award-winning Indian restaurant Curry Corner for some race-week deals to get your teeth into.

Chefs have created a bunch of specials for next week to make your mouth water, inspired by the dishes enjoyed by Indian royalty on hunts.

Dishes include monkfish in saffron cream curry sauce and 16-spice lamb shank masala.