There is a fee for clubs who enter the ISF franchise which is a contribution towards the marketing costs for the national festival.
The gate charges are normally $10-15 and are a bargain as the club and The Races team put on free kids entertainment, live music, betting promotions with international travel as prizes, on-track games like tug of war, non-wagering competitions, food vendors, face painting, bouncy castles, petting zoos amongst a whole lot of other activities. The kicker is that under 18's enter free.
ISF is designed to welcome families and non-racing regulars to the sport one or 2 days a year. It is a summer entertainment option over the holiday period which fills racecourses with over 64,000 guests a year and ONE MILLION customers since it began 13 years ago. Name another initiative other than Christmas at the Races that seeks to bring kiwis to the races as successfully? I'll wait.