Olympia virgin. Best day to go/best place to sit.

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SatsumaGirl

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As above.

I've never been to Olympia and have always gone to HOYS instead- purely from a transport and time of the year POV as tend to be a bit hectic close to Christmas.

Anyway, I've missed HOYS this year and last and have decided I'm definitely going to go to Olympia.
However, the website seems difficult to navigate on a phone and the programme isn't up to much.

In other people's opinions, which is the best time to go/which day do you get the most all round experience and displays and the most variety?
Also, where do people tend to sit?

With HOYS, I've always sat along the long side, about a third of the way to half way up.

Advice much appreciated.
 
This close to the date it might be more of a case of where you can get tickets. And of course what is good to see depends on you!

At every show you will get the main display - Spanish horses this year I think - some form of kennel club agility dogs, Shetland pony grand national and the finale. So it is just a matter of which two other classes you want to see. 13th and 14th are are dressage days and evening only. They can be good because a) they're cheap! and b) you get a whole day shopping which is relatively quiet.

From the 15th onward you have to choose between afternoon and evening tickets (or buy both). Morning tickets give you access to shopping from 9.30. 1st class is at 12.30 but there is usually a warm up class in the morning which you can also watch. Evening tickets give access to the shopping area from 5pm I think. Really its just matter of where tickets are available and what classes you want to see.

Where to sit is personal preference too. For me I prefer mid long side front row. If you sit at the end of a row you'll be getting up and down as people move in and out. If you sit at the middle you'll make others get up and down. (No moving whilst there is a horse in the ring!) If you sit relatively high mid short side under the royal box you can see through into the collecting ring which is fun - and the main displays play in your direction. If you sit high mid short side over the collecting ring entrance you have a good view of the whole arena - but everything tends to face away from you.

Have fun!
 
Gosh - the Olympia website is hard to manage....

So here's the programme:

Tues 13th: FEI Grand Prix dressage.
Wed 14th Freestyle to music
Thurs 15th PM: Santa Stakes (standard two phase) and Extreme driving
Thurs 15th Eve: Christmas pudding stakes (speed class) and Puissance
Friday 16th PM: Indoor driving and Snowman stakes (two phase)
Friday 16th Eve: Champions Challenge (Flat jockeys v jump jockeys SJ) and Christmas Cracker (jump off class)
Sat 17th PM: Father Christmas stakes (Accumulator class) and Christmas masters (5 rounds last man standing wins)
Sat 17th Eve: Indoor diving and Christmas tree stakes (Jump off)
Sun 18th PM: Mini Major (kids and professionals - great fun!) and FEI Jumping
Sun18th Eve: Mini Stakes (128cm class) and Ivy stakes (Jump off class)
Mon 19th PM: Speed stakes, M&M Finals and six bar
Mon 19th Eve: Mince pie stakes (two phase) and grand prix.

Hope that helps!
 
Just to add some days sell out very quickly, like the Puissance night, so would be hard to get tickets now. Also the night that Valegro is retiring is said to be sold out too!
 
TGM said:
Just to add some days sell out very quickly, like the Puissance night, so would be hard to get tickets now. Also the night that Valegro is retiring is said to be sold out too!
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Agree with this. We bought our early bird tickets back in March/April time for Puissance and I know some of the girls at our yard have struggled to get Wednesday night tickets for Valegro. You might be better off asking on FB groups if there's something specific you want to see.
 
Clearly not enough to do at work....

Wed eve, Thurs eve and Sun PM all show as completely sold out. Saturday only has limited view left.
 
We like blocks 10 and 11, which are the short side opposite the entrance. You can see the whole arena, plus you can get members tickets, which give you access to the champagne bar :-)
 
For the last two years Groupon has had Thursday afternoon tickets at a good price. Top priced tickets for around £20.

I quite like the afternoons - the displays are the same and the shopping often a bit quieter.
 
Don't always assume top price tickets give the best view. We bought top tier tickets (through Groupon) one year where we were on the second row but in a corner. Found we couldn't see about one third of the arena!
 
You can see a full seating plan here http://www.olympiahorseshow.com/tickets-show-jumping/ just scroll down to the bottom of the page. Or if you google "Olympia seating plan" there are loads off images you can zoom into it to see exactly where each seat is and what the view is likely to be like.

For us we do end of Row A block 15 for the afternoon performance and end of row A block 5 for the evening. Always on the puissance day. It takes a mad 5 minutes with 2 people, 2 phone lines and 2 computers to get those the moment the priority booking opens. (And costs a fortune - but its our family Christmas celebration.)

The seats that are really good if you don't want to pay for the top price are the front row of the general seating - the blocks that appear in black. You have loads of leg room and a fairly unrestricted view over the heads of the more expensive tickets in front of you. Because they are really strict about not moving around when there is a horse in the ring you don't get your view blocked by walkers. Blocks 2, 8, 18 and 12 will have a restricted view because of the angle. But they are also cheap. Back when I was an impoverished student I used to get season tickets for the very back of block 12. Right up there the view is great - if a bit distant!

The seats that are probably not worth paying full price for are the extreme ends of 3, 7, 13 and 17. (Those are the ones you tend to find on groupon) because they are so close to the cheaper restricted view tickets. The view is pretty much the same - but the price isn't. Especially if you are booking member's tickets.

In case you hadn't guessed - I love Olympia. We've been going as a family since I was about 4 or 5 I think; some years just to watch, a few very special times to compete. I'm now quite a bit older and my daughter has the privilege of volunteering at Olympia through pony club. And we still go to watch too.... getting excited for Christmas!
 
Olympia is my favourite day of the year by a long mile. It's the start of Christmas! Echo others, you'll need to go for the day you can get tickets for. It's not a massive arena so you'll probably see something from wherever you are. Then pick what main discipline you like most (and can get tickets for). If not that fussed go for better seats on a day that's less busy, i would guess the driving day might have some seats left.

I got the dressage tickets on the day they were released and now so glad i did. It will be interesting to see what sitting in front row is like, maybe too close to the action!
 
Shay said:
The seats that are really good if you don't want to pay for the top price are the front row of the general seating - the blocks that appear in black. You have loads of leg room and a fairly unrestricted view over the heads of the more expensive tickets in front of you. Because they are really strict about not moving around when there is a horse in the ring you don't get your view blocked by walkers.
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^^great advice, got the '2nd class front row' :lol: for dressage last year and they were brilliant seats. Done the same this year... I'm another who was there on the first day they were available snapping up freestyle tickets :p
 
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