Goodwood Revival: Gates 8.30am, Rail Hit Both Days

The Goodwood Revival runs from Friday 18 to Sunday 20 September 2026 at Goodwood Motor Circuit, Chichester, PO18 0PH. Gates open to the general public at 8.30am, the first cars are on track at 8.45am, and the car parks are free and open from 7am.

The single thing most likely to catch people out this year is not on the circuit. Goodwood’s own travel page warns that engineering works on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 September will break the rail route from London, which is the two busiest days of the weekend.

The rail problem, in plain terms

Goodwood’s Getting Here page says no Southern trains will run between Three Bridges and Horsham or Barnham on the Saturday and Sunday, with rail replacement buses covering Horsham, Pulborough and Barnham.

Direct trains from London Victoria to Chichester will still run, but via Hove and Worthing, and Goodwood says journey times will be longer than usual. The alternatives it suggests are London Waterloo changing at Havant, which it calls the quickest route from London, or London Bridge changing at Brighton. Chichester is roughly 1 hour 30 minutes from London on a normal day.

That matters even if you are local. Arun Valley passengers heading for Chichester on the Saturday or Sunday are being put on buses for part of the trip, so the station approach and the shuttle queue will not behave like a normal Revival weekend.

The shuttle bus, and the times that do not agree

There is a paid shuttle bus between Chichester railway station and the event. Tickets are sold on the day, not in advance.

Goodwood publishes two different sets of running times on the same page:

An hour apart at the end of each day, unresolved as of 4 September. If you are relying on the last shuttle back, work to the earlier pair and treat the later ones as a bonus. Buses into town should be taken to Chichester bus station, which sits next to the railway station.

Gates, track action and closing times

Last orders are called roughly 30 minutes before closing. Goodwood describes the day as 12 hours of entertainment with about 10 hours of racing inside it.

Parking

All parking is free, and all of it is on grass. Goodwood says the fields may not suit low-slung cars and recommends sensible footwear. Overnight parking and sleeping in the car parks are forbidden.

• Motorcycles get hard standing. Car Park A is for arrivals from the north and east, Car Park C for arrivals from the west and south. Helmet storage is available, though the FAQ places it in the car parks and the travel page places it at Gate 12.
• Blue badge holders follow the yellow disabled-symbol road signs to Car Park D and enter through Gate 12. Courtesy shuttles run in all car parks. Electric and manual wheelchairs can be booked in advance from Shopmobility on 0300 500 8085, based next to the disabled parking in Car Park D.
• Taxis drop off and pick up at Car Park D.
• No EV charging is available, because of where the car parks sit.
• Pre-1966 and tax-exempt cars can be booked into the Revival Car Show parking for free, but Goodwood warns that space sells out in advance.

Goodwood asks drivers to follow the official event signage rather than a satnav, and specifically to avoid the B2146 through South Harting. If you are driving anywhere near Chichester that weekend, our roadworks and travel page tracks what else is dug up, and the parking page covers the city car parks if you are staying in town.

Tickets: what is left, and what a child needs

Admission Only starts at £84 per person. That covers entry, access to Over the Road and the evening festivities, and free parking. It does not include grandstand access.

As of 4 September the banner on Goodwood’s Revival page reads “Friday & Sunday Tickets Limited”, and no Saturday or three-day option is offered alongside it.

The rules on children are worth reading twice, because Goodwood’s own FAQ gives two answers:

• Children 12 and under do not need an admission ticket. They must be with an adult and must wear a wristband, collected at the entry gates, with a phone number written on it.
• Grandstands are different. One FAQ says a grandstand pass is needed from age 3; the family answer on the same site says children over the age of two need their own pass. If your child is two or three, buy the pass rather than argue it at the gate.
• 13 to 21 year olds get a reduced Young Person ticket. Under 18s must be with a ticket-holding adult.

Two hard rules: tickets are not sold on the day, and there is no admission without one. Buy only from goodwood.com.

2026 is the first fully digital year. Tickets live in the Goodwood Tickets app and appear there 14 days before the event, which is on or about 4 September. If yours are not visible yet, that is expected rather than a problem.

Refunds are tight: you can cancel, exchange or refund within 48 hours of purchase only. After that, the official resale route is Twickets, at face value, UK residents only. Tickets bought inside a package cannot be resold there. The ticket office is 01243 755055 and ticket.office@goodwood.com, open 7am to 6pm during the event.

Camping

Pitches are 9 metres by 7, with or without electric hook-up, in the fields around the circuit. Goodwood says all pitches sell out in advance.

The campsite opens at 9am on Wednesday. Check-in runs 7am to 10pm, or 9am to 10pm on the Wednesday, and arriving outside those hours means no pitch until the following day. The campsite office is staffed around the clock from noon on Thursday until midday on the Monday. Goodwood cannot guarantee 24-hour electricity to camping plots, so it should not be relied on for medical equipment.

What is racing, and what is still blank

Goodwood has published the 2026 running order but not a single time. The timetable page says plainly that timings “will be added closer to the event”. So you can find out that Sunday closes with the RAC TT Celebration and then the closing party and prize giving on the grid, but not when to arrive for it.

The published programme is 16 races across the three days, with all official practice on the Friday:

• Friday ends with two races: St Mary’s Trophy Part 1 and the Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy.
• Saturday runs seven races, including the Chichester Cup, the Brooklands Trophy, the Settrington Cup, Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy Part 1, the Lavant Cup, the Goodwood Trophy, the Richmond & Gordon Trophies and the Sussex Trophy.
• Sunday takes six of them again plus the Freddie March Memorial Trophy, the Whitsun Trophy, the Glover Trophy and the TT.

One oddity in the published list: the races run 1 to 12, then jump to 14, 15 and 16, with no Race 13 printed. Goodwood notes the programme is correct at time of publication and subject to change.

The 2026 theme is La Dolce Vita, and the weekend marks 50 years since Barry Sheene’s first world championship and a tribute to Sir Jack Brabham. Track parades are built around Vespas and Lambrettas, Jack Brabham and Maserati, with a Le Mans 1966 celebration on the Sunday.

Dressing up, and the two rules that are not optional

Period dress is not compulsory. Goodwood’s own line is that the vast majority do it anyway, and the event covers 1948 to 1966.

Two things are enforced. Central Paddock access requires a jacket and tie for men and a dress or suit for women. And replica weapons are banned anywhere on site, with the sole exception of authorised re-enactment groups. Bag searches happen at every entrance, drones are prohibited, and Goodwood says it reserves the right to remove anyone inappropriately dressed, naming controversial uniforms and culturally appropriated items.

Still to be confirmed

• Session and race times. Expected in the days before the event on Goodwood’s timetable page.
• The shuttle bus end time. Two answers on the same page, no correction yet.

This page will be updated when Goodwood publishes the timings.

Sources

• Goodwood Revival, the Goodwood Estate Company, read 4 September 2026
• Revival timetable
• Revival FAQs
• Getting here
• Admission tickets