A ‘ROBUST’ plan is in place to counter the influx of visitors to the Boardmasters festival, authorities assure.

Tens of thousands of people are descending on Newquay and Watergate Bay for Boardmasters, which takes place between Wednesday and Sunday.

They have worked closely with authority partners, Cornwall Council, Devon and Cornwall Police and the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust over the last year to develop a robust plan for the festival that prioritises public safety at the event.

The multi-agency collaboration, that takes place annually in preparation for the festival, has been bolstered in 2025. There have been working sub-groups split across coastal safety, traffic, security, safeguarding, health and safety, local Infrastructure as well as medical and emergency planning.

The entire festival experience at Boardmasters has been reimagined in 2025, with a renewed focus on celebrating the cultural heritage of the festival, which began in 1981.

The Watergate Bay music site has been re-designed with more intention, a refined layout, enhanced flow, and more spaces to explore.

There will be talks, entertainment, workshops and strengthened wellness offerings onsite. Boardmasters is reviving a major part of the festival’s legacy by bringing back the much-loved skate ramp to Headland and at Fistral Beach, the home of the surf competition, the Boardmasters open surf competition returns.

Boardmasters have implemented a number of enhancements for 2025 following their own proactive review into last year’s event, which include improvements to artist scheduling, infrastructure layout, staffing deployment, public signage and medical and welfare provisions.

Boardmasters have assembled a strong event management team including security, safety and crowd management specialists with a wealth of experience gained working at festivals all over the world.

Boardmasters have boosted their 24/7 security coverage across campsites. There will be more high-vis patrols day and night, faster entry with more search lanes to keep queues moving, 24 hour support, more information, and a more connected experience at campsite hubs plus new free Wi-Fi zones across the site. Oxfam stewards will return to the festival in 2025 as will the welfare team, + SARSAS, providing confidential and specialist support, no matter what someone is dealing with, including those affected by harassment, sexual assault, or domestic violence.

The main arena and campsite medical points are staffed 24 hours a day by A&E doctors, nurses, paramedics and more. These medical professionals aim to treat most things at the festival to ease pressure on local services.

There are extensive resources and services at the festival focused solely on the safety and well-being of Boardmasters customers. These include 24 hour static and roaming security, 24 hour hospital level medical care, 24 hour dedicated welfare provision including mental health practitioners, safeguarding professionals and medical clinicians, 24 hour dedicated SARSAS team offering support in sexual assault / domestic abuse incidents both in live time and historic cases and 9x24 hour staffed campsite hubs, as a point of contact into the festival management to access these services.

The Boardmasters team have invested in new creative staging, introduced exciting additions across the site map, and reconfigured spaces to offer a more immersive and explorative journey. This includes brand-new stages and reimagined areas that celebrate creativity and discovery, as well as upgraded amenities across the board. Boardmasters is also introducing more premium experiences such as new destination dining concepts, an evolved campsite village and central hub to cater to the growing demand for elevated festival offerings without losing the essence of our coastal, carefree spirit.

The extra safety precautions follows seven people taken to hospital after a crowd surge at last year’s Boardmasters ahead of Sammy Virji's set.

Andrew Topham, founder and CEO of Boardmasters said: "Boardmasters remain saddened by the isolated incident in 2024. Delivering a safe and well-organised festival is our highest priority, and we are proud of the rigorous months of planning, sub-groups and close collaboration between Boardmasters, Devon and Cornwall Police, Cornwall Council and our other authority partners to ensure that this year’s event meets the highest standards. Boardmasters are grateful for the ongoing support and cooperation of our authority partners.”

Superintendent Ben Asprey from Devon and Cornwall Police added: "We are committed to ensuring that everyone attending the festival can enjoy themselves in a safe and secure environment. We have worked collaboratively with Boardmasters and a number of partner agencies in order to prioritise public safety. We welcome the improvements made and are confident they will support the safety and wellbeing of all festivalgoers.”

Boardmasters Safeguarding lead, Dawn Grant, said: "Boardmasters put in months of planning to prioritise creating a safe, supportive environment where all young people can enjoy the festival confidently.

“We understand that some younger customers chose Boardmasters as their first festival and we want their experience to be a positive one. We have a robust safeguarding framework in place at the festival, including a welfare team with extensive experience of supporting young people and a dedicated safeguarding team consisting of trained safeguarding officers accessible via any service on-site. We are committed to responding swiftly and seriously to any issues raised and to continuously improving our approach to safeguarding. We take our duty of care seriously and proactively share information directly with young people through school tours and with parents and guardians via industry-leading webinars."

Ashley Mann, operations manager for Cornwall & Isles of Scilly at the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Public safety is our top priority, and we’re proud to be working closely with Boardmasters organisers, Devon and Cornwall Police, Cornwall Council and other authority partners to deliver a well-coordinated response plan.

“These enhanced safety measures mean our crews will be ready to respond quickly and effectively should the need arise, ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone attending.”

Joshua Jones, Newquay station manager at Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service said: "We have been working closely with Boardmasters organisers to ensure that appropriate fire safety measures are in place. The event has a good track record for fire safety, and we will be actively involved throughout, working alongside their firefighting team. Our presence will help ensure we are fully prepared to respond swiftly and effectively to any fire emergencies that may arise."