Newquay to visitors: look beyond Boardmasters this year

For as long as the festival has been running, one piece of advice has passed between visitors on social media, travel forums and in conversation: avoid Newquay during Boardmasters week. Newquay BID reckons that advice is out of date, and it is spending the run-up to next week’s festival trying to bury it for good.

The organisation has launched Beyond Boardmasters, a campaign built around a single request to holidaymakers, day trippers and residents alike. Come into town. The idea is to point people at everything happening across Newquay during one of the busiest weeks of the summer, from independent shops and award-winning restaurants to the beaches, family attractions and a packed events programme, and to make clear the town is open and ready to be enjoyed while the festival is on just up the coast.

A shared message

Newquay BID is running the campaign alongside Newquay Town Council, Visit Newquay and the Boardmasters team, and all four are pushing the same line: look beyond Boardmasters. Between them they are inviting visitors to spend time in the town’s businesses, browse the independent shops, eat in the restaurants and cafés, sit on the beaches and take in whatever is going on across town during festival week.

The reason people stayed away for so long comes down to traffic. For years the belief was that congestion during Boardmasters made getting into Newquay more trouble than it was worth. Newquay BID says that picture no longer matches reality. Investment by Boardmasters in transport planning, shuttle buses, coach travel and traffic management has, it argues, changed the visitor experience enough that the town is more accessible during festival week than it has been in the past.

The challenge now is perception

Having worked with the Boardmasters team over several years, Newquay BID points to concrete changes. More festivalgoers arriving by coach has cut the number of vehicles heading to Watergate Bay, and better traffic management has taken pressure off the town’s roads.

Last year told the story, according to the campaign. Despite one of the UK’s largest festivals taking place a few miles away, plenty of businesses reported that the town centre felt quieter than they expected. Car parks had spaces, the Park & Ride ran well below capacity, and once arrivals had reached the site the trains were quieter than many people had braced for.

So the problem, as Newquay BID frames it, has flipped. The traffic that once justified staying away has eased. What remains is the reputation, and that is the thing the campaign is trying to shift.

Love Newquay and offers around town

Throughout the week the campaign will play out across Love Newquay’s social media channels, with stories and recommendations covering restaurants and cafés, independent shops, family attractions, evening entertainment, public art, beaches and business offers. Businesses across town are backing it with their own promotions, experiences and special offers, all aimed at persuading visitors to stay longer and explore further.

Murals and the Surfer of the South

Visitors are also being pointed towards Newquay’s public art. The Newquay Mural Trail runs across the town centre, mixing large-scale murals with painted shop-door pieces by local artists, turning the streets into an open-air gallery. The newest arrival is the Surfer of the South statue, which looks out over the coastline from the Killacourt and is already one of the town’s most photographed spots.

A festival feeling across the whole town

While Boardmasters draws its musicians and surfers to Watergate Bay and Fistral Beach, there is a separate programme running in town. Newquay BID is working with Newquay Town Council and WAX Events on the Beyond Boardmasters Village on the Killacourt, where visitors will find live entertainment, local markets, community performances, independent traders and family activities.

On Saturday the RNLI holds its Lifeboat Day, another family event and a chance to celebrate the volunteers who help keep Cornwall’s coastline safe. Put together with the surfing, skateboarding and entertainment around Fistral, the effect is meant to be a festival atmosphere stretching well beyond the festival gates.

Additional Newquay Rangers will be out across town during the week, supporting businesses, helping visitors and handing out local information. They will work alongside enhanced policing and partner agencies through the event.

What the partners say

Mark Warren, Manager of Newquay BID, said: “For many years, people automatically associated Boardmasters week with avoiding Newquay because of concerns around traffic. The reality today is very different. Thanks to the incredible work Boardmasters has done around transport and traffic management, together with the partnership we’ve built over recent years, the town is more accessible than ever during festival week.”

He added: “Boardmasters is here to stay, and that’s something we should celebrate. Rather than asking people to avoid Newquay, we’re inviting them to embrace it. Come and spend time in our businesses, enjoy our beaches, discover our independent shops, support our hospitality sector and see for yourself why Newquay is one of Cornwall’s most exciting destinations. We want everyone to look beyond Boardmasters and experience everything our incredible town has to offer.”

Rob Spring, Festival Director at Boardmasters, said: “Boardmasters has always been about more than just the music and the surf, it’s about celebrating everything that makes this part of Cornwall so special, and that includes Newquay itself. Over the past two years we’ve worked hard alongside Newquay BID, the Council and the local community to improve how festivalgoers travel to and from the site, and we’re really pleased that this is making a genuine difference to accessibility around the town.”

Steve Facer, Director of Resources at Newquay Town Council, said the organisers had listened carefully to feedback from the community and key partners, including Devon and Cornwall Police, the Council and Newquay BID, and had adapted traffic management and transport arrangements as a result. “Our message is simple: Newquay is open for business and ready to welcome you. Whether you’re here for the festival, a day trip, or a longer stay, the town centre offers a vibrant mix of shopping, dining, entertainment, and unique experiences that make Newquay such a special place to visit.”

Details of what is on at the Killacourt through the summer, including the Killacourt Garden Party, are on the Newquay Town Council website. Boardmasters runs next week.