Horsing about: Fulham’s Polo in the Park is the world’s biggest polo festival
(Picture: Press handout)After two years interruption, the popular Polo in the Park festival is set to return to Fulham’s Hurlingham Park this summer.
Running across the June 10-12 weekend, the three-dayer is the world’s largest polo festival and will see six teams from across the globe â — representing Buenos Aires, Sydney, New York, Zurich, Dubai and London â respectively — take to the pitch to face off against each other in hopes of winning the Polo in the Park trophy.
The longstanding event, which has been sponsored by Chestertons for more than a decade, is this year set to launch a London first, as it hosts its inaugral international women’s match on the Saturday; England will ride against team USA. The fixture marks the first time a women’s international has ever been played in the capital. Saturday is marketed as Ladies Day, with Sunday for families — a children’s party is held on the pitch in the morning — and Friday traditionally offering more of a party atmosphere.
Another first for Hurlingham will be the Fulham Food Festival, held across the same weekend to coincide with the polo. Restaurants and food traders including Gaucho, Truffle London, Calamari Canteen, La Cocinita and Mumbai street food specialists Curry On Naanstop will be among those pitching up, alongside pop-up bars from Slingsby gin, Fever Tree and Champagne house Lanson. London club Mahiki will likewise have a presence.
Hurlingham Park’s ties with the sport stretch back far further than 2009’s inaugral Polo in the Park; the Fulham spot is considered something of a spiritual home for the game, owing to the Hurlingham Polo Committee formalising its rules there in 1875. The three-day festival, however, marked the first time the game had been played on the grounds in 70 years.
