Cheshire rugby festival guide: Ellesmere Port, the parks and the stadium day

Cheshire is the festival for clubs who would rather not spend the Friday on the M5. It brings the Revel weekend to the North West: clubs from Lancashire, Yorkshire, Merseyside and North Wales meeting at Ellesmere Port for a May weekend that has become a fixture in the calendar, with the two biggest football stadiums in the country close enough for a day out.

The weekend

Revel Rugby Cheshire 2027 runs on 1–2 May 2027, the May Bank Holiday weekend, with the stay from Friday 30 April to Monday 3 May. Age groups run from Under 7 to Under 15, with girls-only categories at Under 12, Under 14 and Under 16. Festival page.

The rugby is the Revel format: competitive pools by age group on day one, staggered so squads play a morning or afternoon block; the Revel Cup, Challenge Cup and Shield on day two so every team plays both days against sides of a similar standard; non-competitive festival rugby with medals for all for the minis. Every result is posted and every final ends on the stage.

Two other Revel weekends use the same corner of the map: Revel Rugby North Wales (3–4 April 2027, new for 2027) and the Whitsun Rugby League Festival (28–31 May 2027). Both stay at Talacre Beach Resort.

The parks

Talacre Beach Resort — the five-star one

On the North Wales coast, steps from the dunes and beach, about 25 minutes from Ellesmere Port along the A548 and A55. A tropically heated indoor pool with a poolside viewing area, sauna and steam room for the over-16s, the Bistro bar and restaurant with year-round family entertainment, an outdoor play area and an arcade, and activities from snorkelling and sea scooters to body zorbing. Caravans and lodges sleeping four to six. Check-in 4pm, check-out 10am. The park that turns the festival into a seaside holiday. Park page.

Marine Holiday Park — the Rhyl one

Close to the centre of Rhyl and its three miles of sandy beach, about 35 minutes from the festival. The tropical indoor heated pool, Shipwreck Bay, is the headline; around it there is the Mermaid Café, the Smugglers Cove sports bar, the Mariners Club with live entertainment, three outdoor play areas, The Shack outdoor bar and ice-cream parlour, an arcade and a kids' club. Units sleeping four to ten. Check-in 4pm, check-out 10am. The bigger, livelier park, and the one with the most for the smallest siblings. Park page.

Hotels

Cheshire is the festival where hotels are a realistic option too: Travelodge Cheshire Oaks is minutes from the pitches at Ellesmere Port (free parking, and the Cheshire Oaks restaurants across the road), and there are options in Chester, Liverpool and Manchester for clubs planning a stadium day. Ask us and we will price the mix.

The stadium day

Old Trafford, Anfield and the Etihad are all within an hour of the festival. An optional stadium tour can be added to the package for the squad, usually on the Monday. It is the extra clubs ask about most, and for a lot of ten-year-olds it is the bit they remember longest.

The area

• Chester. Ten minutes from Ellesmere Port: the walls, the Rows, the zoo.
• Cheshire Oaks. The outlet village and the restaurants, next door to the Travelodge.
• Liverpool. Twenty minutes through the tunnel: the Albert Dock, the museums, the Beatles.
• The North Wales coast. Both parks are on it; Rhyl, Prestatyn and the dunes at Talacre are the between-games beach.

Getting there

Ellesmere Port sits on the M53 at the end of the M56, 40 minutes from Manchester, 25 from Liverpool, an hour from Leeds and Sheffield, and a little over an hour from Birmingham on the M6. The parks are 25–35 minutes further on into Wales. Teams arrive on the Friday and play from Saturday.

Booking it

Price the festival, park and party size with the instant quote, or send us the club and numbers for a quote within one working day. Share the Clubhouse link and each family books its own accommodation and pays Revel directly: a deposit to secure the weekend, the balance in instalments before the tour.