Over 100,000 people are anticipated to attend the racing over the course of the seven days of the Listowel Races Harvest Festival, which begins on Sunday, reports The Mirror.
With the Guinness Kerry National Handicap Chase on Wednesday serving as the week’s main event, the Festival, which has been going on for almost 160 years, is one of the main attractions on the Irish racing calendar.
Ladies Day is on Friday, September 27th. In 2023, up to 30,000 people are expected to pass through the gates, making it the biggest and youngest throng of the week, reports The Mirror.
Thousands of racegoers love and anticipate this day much, but regrettably, in the past, it has also resulted in a few isolated cases of anti-social conduct and adolescent intoxication around the racecourse and north Kerry town.
Local gardaà have reminded parents to be watchful of their children this year and have implemented tight steps to monitor adolescents entering the racetrack.
In 2023, there were fewer arrests made overall than in previous years—18 were made in the Listowel Municipal District during race week, with four of those being made on Ladies Day, reports The Mirror.
At the entry, there will be a stop-and-search procedure in place, and buses in the vicinity will be inspected for anybody carrying alcohol into the event or serving alcohol to children. Additionally, employees at the racetrack will be particularly watchful to ensure that no minors are offered alcohol.
The racecourse management team collaborates closely with the local law enforcement, and its “Challenge 23″ campaign proved effective in increasing public awareness of underage alcohol use and antisocial conduct in the previous year.
To ensure that everyone who attends the races, visits the area, or lives there has a good and safe experience, local businesses and schools work together, reports The Mirror.
Listowel Sergeant Diarmuid O’Brien told Kerry Radio: “Traditionally Ladies Day is the day that young persons come in large numbers. So we’re asking parents to take personal responsibility for their children. If their children are attending the races unaccompanied by an adult we ask the parents to know where they are throughout the day, and that they arrange for collection afterwards, and not to have them loitering around afterwards up the town where they really have no business,” reports The Mirror.
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