Boardmasters Festival | |
---|---|
Genre | Rock, Indie rock, Alternative rock, Dance |
Dates | Second weekend of August |
Frequency | Annually |
Location(s) | Newquay, Cornwall, England |
Coordinates | 50°26′20″N5°2′32″W / 50.43889°N 5.04222°W |
Years active | 1981–present |
Most recent | 9–13 August 2023 |
Next event | 7 – 11 August, 2024 |
Participants | See lineups |
Attendance | 53,000 (2023) |
Website | boardmasters |
Boardmasters Festival is an annual event held in Cornwall, United Kingdom, usually spanning five days on the second weekend of August. The event is a combination of live music and surfing/skateboarding competitions in and around the town of Newquay. The festival was founded in 1981 as a surfing competition, [1] and in 2005 it was expanded to include music acts, taking place at Watergate Bay. In 2024 the official capacity of the event was increased to 58,000. [2] [3] [4]
The majority of the music performances take place to the north of Newquay near Watergate Bay. The Men's Pro 5 Star WQS surf competition takes place on Fistral Beach where a skate ramp is built for the BMX and Skateboard competitions. Other sporting events include The Women's Open, WSL Men's Longboard, WSL Women's Longboard, Boys/Girls Pro Junior and Under 12's. [5] [6] [7] It is also known to feature a well-being program, a tea-room, and a fairground. [8]
The event is owned and managed by Vision Nine Group. In 2017 the Boardmasters Foundation was started to support local causes, such as the RNLI, with c. £436,000 raised up to 2023. [5]
The Watergate Bay site hosts the music arena and all festival camping. The festival runs from Wednesday to Monday, with music performances running from Friday to Sunday across ten stages: The Main Stage, Unleashed, The Point, The Land Of Saints, Corona Sunsets, The View, The Netloft, The Dockyard, Keg & Pasty and the VIP Bar/Stage. Past years have seen performers such as Bastille, Faithless, Chase & Status, Snoop Dogg, The Chemical Brothers, Stormzy, Ed Sheeran, Deadmau5, George Ezra, Two Door Cinema Club, Calvin Harris, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Years and Years, Dizzee Rascal and Craig David. [9]
In 2014, the organisers of the festival were forced to cancel the final day at the Watergate Bay site due to the remnants of Hurricane Bertha. Artists due to perform were Bastille, George Ezra, Reel Big Fish, DJ EZ, 2manydjs and Catfish and the Bottlemen. [10] However, the surf competition at Fistral Beach continued as normal and full refunds for the cancelled day were received by customers.
The 2019 event was also cancelled hours before it was due to take place, after serious concerns of bad weather forecast to disrupt the event. [11] Boardmasters was then cancelled for a second year in a row in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [12]
Boardmasters was nominated for ‘Best Medium Sized Festival’ at the 2014 UK Festival Awards, alongside Secret Garden Party, Camp Bestival, and winners We Are FSTVL. [13] In 2023 it was nominated again for the UK Festival Awards, this time in the ‘Best Large Festival’ category. [14]
At Fistral Beach the surf, BMX and skate competitions take place along with more music during the evenings. A small mini-ramp is set up on the headland and the vert ramp is built in the beach car park. [5] A purpose built beach bar hosts more musical acts and evening beach sessions.
The Festival has received local criticism due to it's greater focus on the music performances, rather than the "extreme sports" side that the event was originally known for. [5]
Event | Winner [15] | Second |
---|---|---|
2014 Men's Open | Jock Barnes (AUS) | |
2014 Women's Open | Keshia Eyre (POR) | |
2014 Longboard Pro | Ben Skinner (GBR) | |
2013 Men's Open | Billy Stairmand (NZL) | |
2013 Women's Open | Keshia Eyre (POR) | |
2012 Men's Open | Charly Martin (GLP) | |
2012 Women's Open | Miku Uemura (HAW) | |
2011 Men's Open | Romain Cloitre (REU) | |
2010 Men's 5 Star WQS Surf | Marc Lacomare | Jay Quinn |
2010 Aerial Assault | Alan Stokes | Oli Adams |
2010 Vans Summer Sessions Skate Vert | Sam Beckett | Andy Scott |
2010 Vans Summer Sessions BMX Mini Ramp | Alex Colburn | Tobias Wicke |
2009 Men's 5 Star WQS Surf | Daniel Ross | Txaber Trojaola |
2009 Aerial Assault | Micah Lester | Reuben Ash |
2009 Vans Summer Sessions Skate Vert | Alex Perelson | Sam Beckett |
2009 Vans Summer Sessions BMX Mini Ramp | Ben Wallace | Martin Cooper |
Cornwall is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised by Cornish and Celtic political groups as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, Devon to the east, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement is Falmouth, and the county town is the city of Truro.
Newquay is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is a civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries with an airport and a spaceport, and a fishing port on the North Atlantic coast of Cornwall, approximately 12 miles (19 km) north of Truro and 20 miles (32 km) west of Bodmin.
Perranporth is a seaside resort town on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is 2.1 miles east of the St Agnes Heritage Coastline, and around 7 miles south-west of Newquay. Perranporth and its 2 miles (3 km) long beach face the Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of 3,066, and is the largest settlement in the civil parish of Perranzabuloe. It has an electoral ward in its own name whose population was 4,270 in the 2011 census.
Cornwall is a Celtic nation with a long musical history. Strengthened by a series of 20th century revivals, traditional folk music has a popular following. It is accompanied by traditions of pipers, brass and silver bands, male voice choirs, classical, electronic and popular music.
Fistral Beach is in Fistral Bay on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated half a mile west of Newquay at grid reference SW 797 620.
Porthtowan is a small village in Cornwall, England, UK, which is a popular summer tourist destination. Porthtowan is on Cornwall's north Atlantic coast about 2 km (1.2 mi) west of St Agnes, 4 km (2.5 mi) north of Redruth, 10 km (6.2 mi) west of Truro and 15 km (9.3 mi) southwest of Newquay in the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape, a World Heritage Site.
The World Surf League (WSL) is the governing body for professional surfers and is dedicated to showcasing the world's best talent in a variety of progressive formats. The World Surf League was originally known as the International Professional Surfing founded by Fred Hemmings and Randy Rarick in 1976. IPS created the first world circuit of pro surfing events. In 1983 the Association of Surfing Pros took over management of the world circuit. In 2013, the ASP was acquired by ZoSea, backed by Paul Speaker, Terry Hardy, and Dirk Ziff. At the start of the 2015 season, the ASP changed its name to the World Surf League. Sophie Goldschmidt was appointed as WSL CEO on 19 July 2017. Paul Speaker had stepped down as CEO on 11 January 2017, and Dirk Ziff acted as the interim WSL CEO until Goldschmidt's appointment.
Watergate Bay is a long bay or beach flanked by cliffs centred two miles NNE of Newquay below the B3276 Newquay to Padstow road near the hamlet of Tregurrian in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It faces the Atlantic Ocean, adjacent to Newquay Bay. The 2-mile (3.2 km) sandy beach and exposed site is popular for non-powered water sports, kite flying, and sand art.
The Pipe Pro is an event in surfing held annually at Banzai Pipeline in Oahu, Hawaii. It was established in 1971 and has been sponsored by Yeti Coolers, who have a three year partnership in place, which began in 2023.
The Headland Hotel is a Grade II listed building located in Newquay, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It was opened in June 1900 and is built on a prominent position overlooking Fistral Beach and Towan Head.
Alan Stokes is a British professional surfer and surf model from Newquay, Cornwall. He won the 2009 UK Pro Surf Tour Championships.
Mawgan Porth is a beach and small settlement in north Cornwall, England. It is north of Watergate Bay, approximately four miles (6 km) north of Newquay, on the Atlantic Ocean coast.
Sam Bleakley is a British surfer, travel writer, filmmaker, presenter and longboard contest commentator. His published books include Mindfulness and Surfing: reflections for saltwater souls (2016), The Longboard Travel Guide: a guide to the world's best longboarding waves (2015), Surfing Tropical Beats (2011) and Surfing Brilliant Corners (2010). He has been a multiple British and European longboard surfing champion. Sam holds a MA in Geography from Pembroke College, University of Cambridge and a PhD from University of the Arts London and Falmouth University entitled Surfing Haïti, and a new wave of travel writing.
The Australian Open of Surfing is an annual surf, skate and music event held on Manly Beach, Sydney, Australia. It is World Surf League sanctioned surf contests for men and women surf athletes from around the world. It is owned by IMG The inaugural nine-day event was held from the 11 to 19 February 2012. The Open was cancelled in 2018.
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Courtney Conlogue is an American professional surfer. She was born in Santa Ana, California. Courtney learned to surf at the age of 4. In 2004 when she was 11, Conlogue was the youngest athlete to be selected to the USA Junior Surf Team. She went on to achieve 11th place in the 2005 ISA World Junior Surfing Championships. In 2009, at the ISA World Surfing Games in Costa Rica, Courtney won an individual and team Gold Medal as a USA Surfing Team member. By the time she was 14, she had won a surfing gold medal as a member of the U.S.A. Team at the X Games. When she was 16 she won the biggest competition in the USA at the Hurley U.S. Open of Surfing, held at her home break in Huntington Beach, California. She won the US Open of Surfing again in 2018.
Surfing was first introduced to the United Kingdom in 1890 and has since become a popular pastime, particularly in Cornwall, North Devon, and South Wales. With approximately 500,000 people participating per year, it contributes over £1.8 billion to the UK economy annually. GB Surfing is the primary governing body for the sport of surfing in the United Kingdom.
Boardmasters Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Newquay, Cornwall in England. The following is a list of acts that have played at the festival. Headliners are listed in bold.
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