China Equestrian Festival 2012 opens in Chengdu

The China Equestrian Festival 2012 opened in Wenjiang District, Chengdu, Sichuan Province on the morning of Oct. 13, with nearly 30,000 people, including athletes from 20 nations and regions in attendance.

The festival, themed with “kindness, harmony, health, enjoyment,” is a comprehensive equestrian event consisting of equestrian competitions, exhibitions and cultural events, and is being held in the newly built Wenjiang Equestrian Sports Park.

The China Equestrian Festival is the only world-class equestrian event in western China, and this is the second time the China Equestrian Festival has been held in Chengdu.

The China Equestrian Festival is sponsored by the Sport Cycling and Fencing Administration under the State General Administration of Sports, the Chinese Equestrian Association (CEA), the Chengdu government and its sports bureau, and organized by the Chengdu Sports Bureau and Wenjiang District government.

Pan Zhichen, chairman of CEA, Chen Jie, vice chairman of Sichuan People's Political Consultative Conference and Chengdu vice mayor Fu Yonglin and district mayor Xie Chao attended the opening ceremony. The event featured folk song and dance performances, along with nearly 30,000 audiences, including well-known professionals, experts, celebrities, athletes, and equestrian judges from 20 countries and regions including the United Arab Emirates, Australia, France, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The festival will run from Oct. 13 to Oct. 20. It is the largest scale of its kind thus far with most nations, equestrians and horses participating. It’s worth noting that all the horses are thoroughbreds from abroad, said Yan Xiuying, the chief judge of the Chinese Speed Racing Club League Race.

Among the activities, the top-class competitions will include the FEI World Cup Show Jumping China League (Chengdu), the China Equestrian Festival Show Jumping, the Chinese Equestrian Association Barrel Race Tour Final, the Chinese Speed Racing Club League, the first Barrel Race of Sichuan province and the National Equestrian Stunt.

200 equestrians from 8 countries and regions and 200 racehorses will compete for 15 championships. It is also the first time for the FEI World Cup Show Jumping China League to bring this competition to the Chinese mainland.

Xie Chao, district mayor of Wenjiang, explained that the Wenjiang Equestrian Sports Park was only just completed, and is the “one and only [Equestrian Sports Park] in western China, and one of the best in Asia” according to the criteria established by international race courses in Hong Kong and Australia. The most stunning feature of the park is the 2,000-meter-long and 25-meter-wide grass racing track which allows 16 horses to race together while the main grandstand, covering 6625.3 square meters, and temporary grandstand can allow 6000 audience members to watch the competitions.

As one of China's first “model counties” for sports and one of the national sports industry bases, Chengdu's Wenjiang has always aspired to build a city brand and internationalize, standardize and market its distinct features. The city government is expecting to attract more international sports competitions to Chengdu and build an international sports city with many franchises, related industries and merchandizes developed around it.

According to the event organizers, in addition to the races the festival will also host a Chinese equestrian development forum and the 4th international equestrian forum of the West. The horse-themed exhibition will include calligraphy, paintings, shooting, harnesses and more. Organizers have been collecting works from across the world since the beginning of July, and these works will be on display during the festival, accompanied by several circus performances and a banquet.