There’s no question why the Winter Equestrian Festival is Palm Beach County’s top sport: It generates nearly half a billion dollars for the local economy, according to the Palm Beach County Sports Commission.
WEF outpaces major draws like Formula 1 (Miami Grand Prix) and MLB Spring Training. Now, leaders are planning to scale that growth even higher.
We’re halfway through the 13-week season, which attracts more than 100,000 spectators, with Saturday night show-jumping sessions consistently drawing sold-out crowds at the Wellington International showgrounds to see athletes like local favorite Kent Farrington, currently ranked world No. 1 in international show jumping, and Lillie Keenan, who has started the season on a hot streak.
The rising popularity of the annual event, still a niche sport compared with soccer or basketball, may come as a surprise to some residents and newcomers who are increasingly exploring the western part of the county, said Murray Kessler, a former equestrian athlete and now CEO of Wellington International.
Kessler told WLRN Wellington International is modernizing the event and its facilities not only to meet the demands of a growing fan base but also to stay competitive with much larger stadiums abroad.
“From my European experience with my daughter in competing abroad, it's a much bigger spectator sport in Europe,” Kessler said.
His daughter, Reed Kessler, is former show jumping competitor who qualified for the 2012 London Olympics.
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In countries like Germany, France, and the UK, dense networks of riding clubs and federations make equestrian participation far more common than in most of the U.S. Across Europe, equestrian sport anchors a horse industry worth over €100 billion a year, with more than 10,000 major events and local shows.
Each year, Wellington International, a 500-acre complex, serves as one of the top destinations for show jumping, hunters (a specific style of jumping), and dressage (training) from January through March.
Murray Kessler, former president of the US Equestrian — a national governing body for the sport, said he’s “benchmarking against what we need to do to get the best in the world.”
And that comes down to more money —“bigger purses” for star riders, and enhancing the entertainment aspect of the show’s atmosphere. “I took it [WEF] and made it feel like you were walking into Madison Square Garden with laser light shows,” he said.
The attention is still placed on the quality of the sport. Riders often stay year-round for talent development. WEF is often viewed as the unofficial "training ground" for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Growing equestrian community
The organization, which has been around for nearly 50 years, has contributed to the local economy by investing in family events, charity initiatives for first responders, and other year-round community engagement, but the impact has been building for decades because Wellington is “unlike any other horse show.”
“Instead of a typical one- or two-week event limited to top professionals, we run for 13 weeks in Palm Beach County, which is a huge part of our success,” Kessler said.
And the dollar circulates year-round. “People have put down roots here — they buy homes, rent for the season, fill hotel rooms, dine out, and shop locally all winter long,” he said.
Expanding the showgrounds for growth
Each week during the circuit, nearly 3,000 horses compete at Wellington, on a property originally designed for less than a third of that number — for years, they’ve been “bursting at the seams,” Murrey Kessler said, when it comes to stabling (housing horses), accommodating riders, and seating spectators in the stadium.
As a result, plans call for a more than $100 million investment to double the facility’s size by acquiring an additional 90 acres adjacent to the original property. Looking ahead, Wellington’s vision is continued growth and innovation to remain at the forefront of international equestrian sport and community engagement.
The Wellington showgrounds was bought in 2024 by a group including entrepreneur Mark Bellissimo. Controversial land-use changes removed 96 acres from the Equestrian Preserve for homes, a commercial main street, and new equestrian facilities, sparking hours of testimony over impacts on Wellington’s horse-riding character, traffic, and promised upgrades. The Wellington Council passed the plan 4-1 in 2024.
New construction for the WEF showgrounds will include, Kessler said, three new rings, a covered arena, and a finished grass derby field. Officials plan to move major jumping events to the expanded area.
“The biggest change for next year will be infrastructure to accommodate the growth we've already experienced, but more importantly, allow for growth in the future,” he said.
