The Boardmasters Surf, Skate and Music Festival is THE place for outdoor enthusiasts to be on the second weekend in August. The event starts the previous Wednesday and runs for five days and nights in two great locations: Newquay's Watergate Bay and Fistral Beach.
This hyper-festival features the very best in action sports as it includes the ASP World Tour Surfing as well as a laid back Music Festival at Watergate Bay. In past years it attracted 90,000 fans and is now the UK's longest running surf and music festival.
Music festival at Watergate Bay
The music arena is situated on the cliffs overlooking Watergate Bay and is dubbed “the world's best view from a festival site”. It has eight stages to accommodate a wide range of music genres each evening.
The Music Festival has now expanded to three nights and attracts international stars to the outdoor event. Just to give you a sample of the quality music that the Boardmasters attracts, headline acts for 2014 include Chase and Status, Snoop Dogg, Bastille and more.
Other top performers to raise your hands in the air for include Skindred on Wednesday, Fink and Sunset Sons on Thursday, The Cribs, Zane Lowe, Peace, The Enemy, Duke Dumont, Shy FX and Wilkinson.
Top athletes compete at Boardmasters Surf, Skate and Music Festival
As well as world class surfing as part of the ASP World Tour, festival goers will see some of the UK's best skaters and BMX stunt displays.
The surfing competitions on Fistral Beach and all the sporting events are free to attend ‐ just turn up and watch. However, if you want to join in the more intimate Beach Sessions in the Beach Bar at Fistral Beach on the Wednesday and Thursday evenings you will need to purchase a ticket beforehand.
You will also need tickets to attend the Watergate Bay Music Festival events. Although the main events take place over the weekend, if you purchase a Thursday – Sunday ticket you get early access to the site, ahead of the Friday queues.
What's on where at the Boardmasters Surf, Skate and Music Festival
The Boardmasters events take place on Fistral Beach and overlooking Watergate Bay on the outskirts of Newquay, but they are about five miles apart by road, so you need to know which events are where. There is a shuttle bus service which will run from Newquay town centre to the Watergate Bay Festival site on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Fistral Beach hosts the ticketed Beach Sessions gigs on the Wednesday and Thursday evenings. The skate and BMX competitions, art installations and the retail village are all set up at this beachside location and are open to the public.
The Watergate Bay location is at Trebelsue Farm, right on the clifftops above Watergate Bay. Tickets are required to attend the three-day music festival which takes place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
There is plenty of excellent holiday accommodation in and around Watergate Bay, with many luxury holiday apartments large enough to share, overlooking either Watergate Bay or Fistral Beach.
Have you been to the Boardmasters Surf, Skate and Music Festival in past years? We'd love to hear your comments about what's good (or not-so-good!). Feel free to let potential festival goers know more about the Boardmasters Festival by posting in the comments box below.
Born in Cheshire, Gillian Birch moved to Cornwall at her earliest opportunity and never looked back. After 20 years, her ongoing discovery of popular attractions, quiet footpaths and local eateries has made her a fount of knowledge as she entertains readers with her informative articles on the hidden gems of Devon & Cornwall from a local point-of-view.
Me and a group of friends went to Boardmasters in 2012 and I think there is only one way to describe it, AWESOME. We bought bought 10 general tickets and got a free upgrade to the VIP arena. We had an absolutely amazing time. Dizzee Rascal was on the main stage and was by far my favourite performance of the weekend, although Rudimental absolutely killed it (in a good way)!
I would offer but one tip if you are heading to the festival this year – take some toilet roll! There is never any left in the porta-loos.