Global Dressage Festival Winter Circuit of 7 CDIs Confirmed for Equestrian Village, Its Home for Past Decade
2 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on Global Dressage Festival Winter Circuit of 7 CDIs Confirmed for Equestrian Village, Its Home for Past Decade
WELLINGTON, Florida, Oct. 27, 2022–The Global Dressage Festival will go ahead at Equestrian Village, its home for the past decade, for the winter circuit of seven international events beginning in January to be organized by Wellington International. Details on VIP table reservation will be advised Friday.
An agreement to lease the Equestrian Village venue was signed Thursday by Mark Bellissimo who created the dressage circuit a decade ago and whose Wellington Equestrian Partners still owns the venue, and Global Equestrian Group headed by Andreas Helgstrand.
“We know that dressage competitors and spectators have been eagerly awaiting news of the 2023 AGDF season,” said Michael Stone, President at Wellington International, “and we are happy to report that our team will once again be working hard to put forth an exciting, memorable, and safe event. Our staff is very familiar with the competition, hospitality, and other logistics of AGDF at the Equestrian Village venue, so we expect to be able to continue the tradition of excellence this upcoming winter.”
The Helgstrand group bought the dressage dates as it did for the hunter/jumper circuit along with the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center and renamed it Wellington International. However, a proposal by Mark to convert Equestrian Village to a housing development and delays in accepting reservations at the sought-after VIP lounge created uncertainty in what has become one of the world’s top dressage destinations.
In addition to the seven CDIs, eight national dressage events are staged during Global, plus featured Small Tour and Developing Grand Prix series.
For the second year in a row, the CDI5* competition, one of the richest dressage events in the world, will be held Mar. 14-19 at the main jumping grounds of Wellington International, literally just down the street.
Highlights of the circuit include three World Cup qualifiers–one is also being held in December before Global launches–for riders seeking a start at the World Cup Final in Omaha in April; both senior and under-25 Nations Cups and a CDI5*, the richest dressage competition in the Western Hemisphere.
Highlights of the 2023 Global schedule:
Jan. 11-15 – CDI-W World Cup, CDI4*
Jan. 25-29 – CDI4*, CDI3*
Feb. 8-12 – CDI-W World Cup, CDI4*
Feb. 22-26 – CDIO3* & CDIOU25 Nations Cups, CDI3*
Mar. 1-5 – CDI-W World Cup,CDI3*
Mar. 14-19 – CDI5*, CDI3*
Mar. 22-26 – CDI4*, CDI3*
