As Boardmasters festival is well underway businesses in Newquay are excited for what this year will bring.
Taking place between August 9 - 13, 50,000 festival goers are expected to descend on North Cornwall for the event.
The music and surfing festival was founded in 1981 as a surfing competition, and in 2005 it expanded to include music acts taking place at Watergate Bay. In 2018 the organisers, Vision Nine, were granted permission to see its capacity increase by 3,000 to 53,000.
This year sees a brand-new collaboration between Newquay Business Improvement (BID)鈥檚 Love Newquay and Boardmasters has seen additional exposure for 16 local businesses via their inclusion on the festival app.
Newquay BID manager Mark Warren has been encouraging all Newquay businesses to get involved and make the most of additional business opportunities over the busy period.
Newquay BID approached Boardmasters with a set of collaboration ideas last autumn.
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Mr Warren commented: 鈥淎ll around the 海角视频, BIDs and town and city organisers are working desperately hard to put on footfall driving events of their own. Yet here in Newquay we have the annual gift of the ready-made Boardmasters鈥
He told BusinessLive : 鈥淏oardmasters is amazing. It鈥檚 a huge, huge event that drives footfall not only to the event 鈥 but to many of our local businesses. There鈥檚 more than 50,000 people going just to Watergate Bay, including all the staff and festival team, and then on top of that there鈥檚 all the people who come and stay all around Newquay, not only when the festival is on, but before and after. And there鈥檚 lots of people who work on the event who also come and stay here throughout the whole thing.鈥
Mr Warren explained how lots of local businesses get involved with the festival to build and supply the event. There is additionally a lot of footfall driven through Newquay itself, especially in the mornings and early afternoons as festival goers visit the town to enjoy cafes, shops, bars, restaurants, and grocery stores.
Mr Warren continued: 鈥淏oardmasters generates over 拢40m revenue to Newquay and the surrounding area. It brings in extra flights from the airport, there鈥檚 extra trains and buses in and out of our brilliant resort, as well as the cars that we see arriving.鈥
St Austell Brewery told BusinessLive: 鈥淪t Austell Brewery is set for a busy week of trade in its Newquay pubs for Boardmasters. Our teams at Fort Inn, Great Western and The Central are excited and ready to welcome people to enjoy food and drinks there. Staff from across the wider business will be pitching in at our Newquay venues to ensure customers get the best service possible.鈥
Businesses getting involved with Newquay BID鈥檚 app offering include bars and cafes such as Palm Bay, 12 Beach Road, Atlantic View Caf茅, Box & Barber, The Old Counting House, RetroBlast Coffee, Koffi & Crowst, Freddo鈥檚 ice cream parlour, The Stable and Brew and Tattoo.
Surf schools and Newquay activity providers are set to showcase the town鈥檚 ocean opportunities鈥, alongside surf shops, with businesses such as Newquay Activity Centre, Emoceanl Surf, Fistral Beach Surf School, Sunset Surf, Escape Surf School and the Wave Project offering taster sessions and lessons at discounted prices as part of the app options.
Mr Warren added: 鈥淚鈥檓 pretty sure it鈥檚 the biggest festival event this side of Glastonbury. It鈥檚 an unprecedented event for Cornwall. If everyone in and around Newquay didn鈥檛 do so such a great job of hosting it, another destination would snap it off our hands. And we most certainly don鈥檛 want that to happen!鈥
The BID manager also touched upon the Boardmasters Foundation, which generated 拢105,000 of funds for local businesses and charities in 2022.
He said: 鈥淧lus they have the Boardmasters Foundation which generates funds from the event and gives back to the community. Boardmasters are as eco-focussed as possible, encouraging their festival goers to try beach cleans and to be constantly aware of disposing of litter correctly and recycling over and over.鈥
Vision Nine have reported that more than 38 local Cornish charities, beach clean groups, businesses, children鈥檚 hospices, schools, surfing and sporting organisations and community groups are set to benefit from the raised funds.
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