Groove on the Grass Raceday returns to Hawkesbury Race Club on 7 March 2026, blending live racing, DJs and relaxed lawn party atmosphere in Sydney’s west.
By late morning in Clarendon, the light has settled into that particular Western Sydney brightness — clear, unhurried, and edged with heat. Beyond the low rise of the grandstand, the Hawkesbury River flats stretch wide and green, and the track sits like a well-kept oval of promise. On Saturday, 7 March 2026, this landscape becomes the stage once more for Groove on the Grass Raceday, returning to Hawkesbury Race Club for its third year.
The gates open at 11.30am. By then, the first groups will already be arriving: friends in linen and sunglasses, families shepherding children toward the lawn, seasoned racegoers with form guides folded neatly under their arms. The car park fills steadily, though many step off at nearby Clarendon Station and walk the short distance in, the hum of anticipation building with each stride.
This is not the city’s racing scene, polished and high-rise. Groove On The Grass Raceday belongs to the edge of Sydney where paddocks still outnumber apartment blocks, and where an afternoon at the track feels as much social ritual as sporting contest.
A Lawn Party at Heart: Groove on the Grass Raceday
At its core, Groove on the Grass Raceday carries the feel of a lawn party — expansive, sociable, and deliberately unhurried. The infield and trackside lawns form a loose amphitheatre of picnic rugs and reserved seating, where conversations rise and fall in time with the race calls.
There is a rhythm to the day. Between races, the energy shifts from rail to stage. Saxophonist and DJ Nat Sax headlines the entertainment, her set weaving live brass through dance tracks that ripple across the grass. The effect is immediate and physical: shoulders loosen, heads tilt back, and strangers fall into easy conversation. Supporting her is local favourite DJ Matt Ellings, whose familiarity with the Hawkesbury crowd shows in every well-timed transition.
Music here is not an afterthought. At Groove on the Grass Raceday, it runs parallel to the racing, creating a dual pulse — hooves striking turf, bass rolling across open air.
The Racing Under Western Skies
Yet the thoroughbreds remain the centrepiece. The race program builds toward the $150,000 Provincial-Midway Championships Qualifier, a contest that draws keen attention from trainers and punters alike. As horses circle behind the barriers, the mood shifts subtly. Conversations taper. Sunglasses are lowered. Binoculars lift.
When the gates spring open, the sound is startling in its unity — a collective intake of breath, then the rising roar as the field rounds the bend. From the rail, children sit perched on shoulders; from the lawn, groups stand as one, drinks forgotten in outstretched hands.
In these moments, Groove on the Grass Raceday reveals its lineage. Hawkesbury Race Club has long served as a proving ground within New South Wales racing, and the qualifier carries weight. The outcome can redirect a season, shape a reputation. The crowd understands this, even as the day retains its relaxed surface.
Between races, bookmakers call odds in steady cadence, and digital racebooks glow in the shade of umbrellas. There is time to study form, to debate a tip, to wander back toward the music before the next field assembles.
Beats, Bites and the Social Ritual
Hospitality threads quietly through the afternoon. Food trucks line the perimeter with the scent of grilled meats and something sweet drifting across the track. Cold drinks bead in plastic cups. The atmosphere is generous rather than extravagant — designed for grazing, sharing, and lingering.
The popular Beats & Bites package returns in 2026, hosted within the Ted McCabe Room. Inside, DJ and MC Rusty from Smash ‘N’ Entertainment keeps the tempo buoyant while canapés circulate and private betting facilities offer a more contained vantage point. There is a drinks voucher tucked into the package, a digital racebook ready for consultation, and the sense of stepping briefly away from the lawn without losing connection to it.
Elsewhere, the Clarendon Brasserie offers a seated dining option overlooking the course, while reserved trackside seating in the Lawn Precinct provides a clear view of the finishing post. General admission remains accessible, with under-18s welcomed free when accompanied by a responsible adult — a reminder that Groove on the Grass Raceday is not confined to one demographic.
It is, instead, a social cross-section of the region: young professionals home for the weekend, long-time locals greeting one another by name, families marking the close of summer.
A Hawkesbury Tradition in the Making
By its third year, Groove on the Grass Raceday has settled into the Hawkesbury social calendar with quiet assurance. It does not attempt to mimic metropolitan carnivals. Instead, it leans into its setting — the broad lawns, the proximity to the mountains, the ease of free parking and a short train ride from the city.
As the afternoon lengthens, the light softens to amber. Shoes are slipped off beneath tables. The final races run under a sky streaked with late-summer colour. Music swells once more, and small groups gather near the stage, reluctant to concede the day.
There is something distinctly regional in the way the event unfolds: polished but not pretentious, festive without losing sight of the sport. The $150,000 feature may headline the program, yet the enduring memory for many will be more atmospheric — the feel of grass underfoot, the brass notes of a saxophone carried on warm air, the collective cheer as a long-shot surges forward in the straight.
When the last race is called and the crowd drifts toward the exits, the track settles back into stillness. Litter crews move quietly across the lawns. Beyond the rail, the paddocks darken.
Groove on the Grass Raceday leaves behind more than hoofprints. It marks a pause in the calendar — a day where racing and music share equal footing, and where Hawkesbury’s wide horizon frames the simple pleasure of gathering outdoors.
On 7 March 2026, the gates will close again at dusk. But the echo of the day — the music, the applause, the thunder of hooves — will linger, carried home on the evening train and along the country roads that lead away from the course.