the British author of the famed children’s fantasy novel, Alice’s’ Adventures in Wonderland.
Carroll is also well-¬known for his obsession with madness and, it seems, it’s rubbing off. With a new Disney sequel adaptation Alice Through the Looking Glass, released in May and a themed ‘Alice in Wonderland Day’ at Ripon Races scheduled for August 16, it seems everybody’s mad about Alice.
Marketing Executive, Erin Boswell of Ripon Races¬ who also run the popular ‘William Hill Great St Wilfrid’ race day on August 13¬ – admits to going slightly loopy with excitement for the ‘Alice in Wonderland Day’ event, which is free to all under 18s and could be said to be getting ‘curiouser and curiouser’ each year.
“The book – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland -¬ has a special place in the hearts of us here at Ripon Races” said Erin, “and we knew the new Disney film was due out, so we thought it would be brilliant to have an ‘Alice in Wonderland Day’ for the whole family to come along to; it’ll be great fun for all ages.”
As well as enjoying an afternoon of racing, little ones can go crazy with a ‘Mad Hatter’s Tea Party’, tea cup rides, bouncy castles, balloon modelling and face painting. Make sure your kids start prepping for the fancy dress competition for both over and under 6s as there’s the promise of ‘wonderful prizes’ to be announced. Adults need not get ‘down, down, down’ in the dumps though; with prizes for ‘Best Adult Costume’ for over 18s and perhaps a little bet on the gee-¬gees, everybody is catered for.

Lewis Carroll wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in 1865 and the sequel Through the Looking-¬Glass in 1871, yet the stories have remained firm favourites with readers for over 150 years.
Although there are lots of thoughts on what could constitute hidden meanings behind Carroll’s novels, one popular theory is that the city of Ripon inspired the many quirks of Carroll’s more evocative characters and moments. Sources say the carvings of a rabbit and a griffon in Ripon Cathedral—where Carroll’s father was a Canon— were the inspiration for some of the characters in the novel and the many sink holes in and around the Ripon area could represent the rabbit hole which Alice fell down, in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
As for the obsession with madness? According to the Lewis Carroll Society – a member organisation that encourages research into the life and works of Lewis Carroll— Carroll’s uncle was a ‘Commissioner in Lunacy’ and the author was known to have a keen interest in Victorian Psychiatry.
Whatever the history, Ripon Races is sure to make for you go ‘mad for it’. Tickets for ‘Alice in Wonderland Day’ at Ripon Races racecourse are available here or by following this link.
You can keep up to date with all the latest news and offers from the course on their social media pages, or by visiting their website.