Newquay Minor Injury Unit extends hours for Boardmasters

Tens of thousands of people are pouring into Newquay for Boardmasters, and a festival weekend on that scale tends to produce its share of twisted ankles, cuts and knocks. If you are one of them, it is worth knowing that the town’s Minor Injury Unit is open longer than usual, every single day, while the crowds are here.

Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has confirmed extended cover at Newquay Minor Injury Unit across the festival, with X-ray available on site.

The opening hours in full

Newquay Minor Injury Unit will be open every day of the weekend. On Friday 7, Sunday 9 and Monday 10 August the unit is open from 8am to 6pm. On Saturday 8 August it opens from 8am to 4pm.

X-ray is available throughout, so the unit can handle the kind of sprains, breaks and minor injuries that a busy festival weekend throws up without a trip to an emergency department.

Check the wait before you set off

Minor Injury Units treat things like sprains, strains, broken bones, minor burns, cuts and minor head injuries. Before you head down, you can see how busy it is on the live MIU waiting times page, which shows current waits across Cornwall’s network of units. The NHS Quicker app does the same job on your phone, with live waiting and travel times for urgent care services across Devon and Cornwall.

If you are not sure where to go, NHS 111 online or a call to 111 will point you to the nearest and quickest option.

Help on the festival site itself

Not everything needs a trip into town. Boardmasters runs its own medical and welfare provision on site, and a good chunk of it is there around the clock.

The Campsite Medical Centre in Lakeys is a 24-hour facility staffed to urgent treatment centre standards, alongside the Arena Medical Centre near the Main Stage during arena hours. Welfare teams cover the campsite through the night and the arena during opening hours, with the organisers’ own line being to come to them for any issue, big or small, whether you need looking after or just someone to talk to.

There is mental health support too. A Chilled Tent near the Info Point in the Main Arena is set up as a quiet, low-lit space with comfortable seating, earplugs and weighted blankets for anyone feeling overwhelmed, with neurodiverse festivalgoers particularly in mind. SARSAS keeps a 24-hour confidential presence in both the arena and campsite for anyone affected by sexual violence, and the Ask For Angela scheme runs for anyone who feels unsafe.