What to Wear to the Irish Champions Festival 2026

From the Merve Bayindir atelier, a guide to two days and two racecourses, Leopardstown and the Curragh, and five hand-made pieces for the biggest weekend in Irish flat racing.

Most festivals ask you to dress for one place. The Irish Champions Festival asks you to dress for two. Now in its thirteenth year, it runs across a single weekend at two of Ireland’s finest racecourses: Leopardstown on the Saturday, on the southern edge of Dublin, and the Curragh on the Sunday, out on the Kildare plain. Between them they carry more than five million euro in prize money, six Group 1 races and the final Irish Classic of the season. The two days have quite different characters, and dressing well for the weekend means understanding the difference. This is a guide to both, written from the atelier.

The essentials: dates, places and times

 

Two courses, two moods

Leopardstown is a city racecourse, close enough to Dublin that guests arrive by tram and leave for dinner in town afterwards. It is largely paved underfoot, which quietly widens your options: a finer heel is survivable here in a way it is not on open grass. Saturday is headlined by the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes, a race whose roll of honour reads like a list of the best horses of the last twenty years, Sea The Stars, Golden Horn, Magical and Auguste Rodin among them.

Sunday moves out to the Curragh, and the mood changes with it. This is the home of all five Irish Classics, set on open plain in Kildare, and the day closes with the Irish St Leger, the final Classic of the Irish season. It is bigger sky, more wind and more grass than Leopardstown, which matters when you are choosing a headpiece. If you are attending both days, plan two pieces rather than one, and let the Sunday piece be the more securely fitted of the two.

Leopardstown is a Dublin evening waiting to happen. The Curragh is open Kildare sky. Dress for the ground, not just the occasion.

The Irish dress code, or the absence of one

There is no official dress code at either Leopardstown or the Curragh, and the festival’s own guidance simply recommends smart casual and asks guests to dress for the weather. That freedom is not an invitation to under-dress. Irish racegoers take style seriously, Dublin and Kildare crowds tend to dress a shade more formally than at the summer festivals, and hospitality areas carry a smarter expectation than the general enclosures. Sportswear and anything offensive are the only firm exclusions. In practice the race headwear that suits Ascot works perfectly well here, and a headpiece is close to standard in the reserved and hospitality areas.

September colour, Irish light

Mid-September in Ireland is changeable, and the light is low and soft rather than bright. Deep blues, ivory, navy and warm rose all hold up better than pastel in that light, and a structured dress or a two-piece in a single solid colour photographs far better than a busy print. A clutch keeps the line clean. Bring a coat you are content to be seen in rather than a wrap you will end up carrying, because you will almost certainly need it at some point across the two days.

Five Merve Bayindir pieces for the weekend

The five below are hand-made in our London atelier and drawn from our summer occasion line, chosen in the blues and soft neutrals that suit Irish September light. All are button and saucer shapes, which travel well between a city course and an open plain. Prices include UK VAT.

Ventus Fascinator

£1,650

A royal blue button fascinator dressed with a large crinoline bow and ribbons that lift and move as you walk. It is the boldest of the five and the best answer to a big Saturday at Leopardstown, where the crowd is large and the photographs are taken close to the parade ring. Wear it with ivory, navy or clean white.

Ocean Dream Fascinator

£1,350

A blue button piece with a double crinoline swirl shaped like a wave, set with wired resin flower arrangements and fitted on a wired headband. The fitting matters at the Curragh, where the wind comes across open ground. Pair it with cornflower, dove grey or ivory.

Nuite Fascinator

£1,250

A blush sinamay piece with a rounded high back, worked with clear crystals and pearls and finished with a black beaded floral spray for contrast. The blush and black combination is quietly confident and works particularly well under low September light. Wear it with charcoal, ivory or soft pink.

Lucie Fascinator

£1,000

A navy sateen button fascinator with a stiffened baby veil and multi-coloured violets. The veil gives it a formality that suits hospitality, and navy is the most useful colour of the weekend, carrying from a Dublin afternoon into dinner afterwards.

Zadie Fascinator

£1,100

A white button fascinator on a sateen base with contemporary elastic embroidery, dressed with a sateen rose bud and swirled leaves. The lightest piece of the five and the easiest with a printed dress, it suits a guest who wants a finished head without a strong statement.

At a glance

Styling notes for the weekend

Treat the two days as two different problems. Leopardstown is paved and close to the city, so a court shoe or a strappy block heel both work, and you can carry a slightly finer piece. The Curragh is open Kildare plain, so favour a wired headband or elastic fitting and a block heel, and expect wind. Across both days, let one element lead: a solid-colour dress with a worked headpiece reads better than a printed dress fighting a busy hat. Because there is no formal code, the safest way to look right is to dress a shade above what you think is needed. Button and saucer fascinators are the practical choice in a crowd this size.

Ordering, and what to expect

Our occasion pieces are made to order in the London atelier, part of a deliberate, low-waste way of working, so ordering with time in hand before mid-September is wise. When the date is close, our ready to ship pieces are dispatched within the next working day. Every order arrives in a custom box, with worldwide DHL Express shipping included, and Dublin is a short DHL run from London.

Frequently asked questions

When is the Irish Champions Festival 2026?

It runs across the weekend of Saturday 12 September at Leopardstown and Sunday 13 September at the Curragh.

Is there a dress code at Leopardstown or the Curragh?

There is no official dress code at either course. The festival recommends smart casual and asks guests to dress for the weather. Hospitality areas carry a smarter expectation, and sportswear is not welcome anywhere.

Do you have to wear a hat?

No, headwear is not compulsory. Most guests in reserved and hospitality areas wear a hat or fascinator, and a headpiece is the simplest way to lift a race day outfit where no formal code applies.

What is the difference between the two days?

Leopardstown is a city course close to Dublin, largely paved and headlined by the Irish Champion Stakes. The Curragh is on open plain in Kildare, home to all five Irish Classics, and closes the weekend with the Irish St Leger.

Should I wear the same piece both days?

It is worth planning two. The Curragh is more exposed than Leopardstown, so a securely fitted piece on a wired headband or elastic is the wiser choice for the Sunday.

Find your festival hat

Every piece above is designed and hand-made in our London atelier by Merve Bayindir, a member of the British Fashion Council with selections in the Royal Ascot Style Guide. Explore the full range of hats and fascinators, the derby headwear worn across the season, or begin with our Summer Occasion Headwear for the shapes that suit a September weekend.

Sources

About Champions Weekend, Irish Champions Festival:  irishchampionsfestival.ie/about-champions-festival

Irish Champions Festival, Leopardstown Racecourse:  leopardstown.com/irishchampionsfestival