Surfing

Boardmasters comes of age (from Newquay Voice)

Tue 10th Aug

Summer celebrations were squeezed into five days last week when rock stars, DJs and surfers descended on Newquay, as the town once again flaunted its reputation as the surf-capital of the UK and one of the premier seaside resorts in the country for event-led tourism.

Up to 150,000 visitors enjoyed pure surf-life entertainment at this years annual Relentless Boardmasters which boasted sell-out ticket sales for every event.
Tourism chiefs have hailed the event as a success as record numbers caused traffic gridlock in places but brought with them tens of millions of pounds for the local businesses.

With panoramic views over the Cornish coast the Unleashed music festival above Watergate witnessed some of the biggest names in popular music perform on more stages than ever before.
Festival winner and American-blues-and-rock artist Seasick Steve had the crowds dancing on Friday night before one man band Newton Faulkner left the audience on a high with his set, including his song Dream Catch Me and a cover of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
Saturday night took more of an electro-dance feel with Chase & Status and Leftfield lighting up the main stage.

Surf fans and sun worshippers sizzled in 23 degree temperatures down at Fistral Beach to see Frenchman Marc Lacomare snatch this weekend’s £10,000 first prize for the Five Star ASP World Qualifying Series surf event after beating New Zealand’s Jay Quinn in the final on Sunday.
In addition to the surfing events, skateboarders and BMX riders were competing for prizes and as the setting sun cast long shadows on the sand, top musicians and local bands played on the beach stage.

And, not only was the event a crowd pleaser but so far it seems that the majority of Porth residents were pleased with the organisation, despite initial concerns about the additional camping and ticket sales.
Newquay Cllr and ward member for Porth and Colan, John Fitter, attended the event and spoke to residents in his area.

“It’s my opinion after speaking to the people in my division that the music festival with camping went off brilliantly,” he said.
“There was congratulations for the managers for how they dealt with the large numbers of people. You could hear the music at some points during the day but that is happily put up with and it wasn’t going on all night. I couldn’t find anything to complain about. The camping was excellent and well managed. All in all it was a first class event.”

The camping for 4,500 people caused some controversy in Newquay when it was announced in April.
Cllr Gary Redman, who fought the application, still has his doubts, he said: “I was up there Saturday and Friday night and I’m still not happy with the camping and the extra 4,000 people up there. I witnessed issues with poor policing, littering, security and underaged people who were under the influence of alcohol. When the residents first took the risk with the festival it was understood it would end before 11pm, now it runs till way after midnight. I will be conducting a survey with Porth residents to see what they thought and will bring any issues to planning next year.”