Public protection investigation after Boardmasters ‘crush’

Cornwall Council has launched a “public protection” investigation following what many people involved have described as a “terrifying” crowd crush on Friday night at the Boardmasters festival at Watergate Bay. The event’s organisers say seven festivalgoers were treated in hospital following the incident.

Crowd surges happened at The Point stage, with reports of young music fans falling to the ground and being trampled as equipment “collapsed”. DJ Sammy Virji, who was due to headline the stage at 8.30pm, had his set cancelled at the last minute, as medic teams rushed to the scene to help those who had been injured.

As word spread about the incident on social media, Devon and Cornwall Police were forced to issue a statement to shut down rumours that there had been a death as a result of the crowd collapse.

Cornwall Council issued a statement today (Monday, August 12) saying it is investigating. A spokesperson for the local authority said: “The council’s public protection service is currently investigating the incident that took place at the Boardmasters Festival on Friday, August 9. We cannot comment further while this investigation is ongoing.”

Earlier this summer, the council approved plans to expand the festival site at Trebelsue Farm on the clifftop at Watergate Bay from 184.5 hectares to 229.2 hectares. A licensing application, in February, to increase the festival’s capacity to 66,000 by 2026 was refused. Instead, Boardmasters was allowed to increase the number of festivalgoers from last year’s 53,000 to 58,000 from last weekend’s event until 2026.

Boardmasters released its own statement about the crowd surges on the final day of the festival (Sunday, August 11), saying: “Following the isolated incident on Friday night – the crowd collapse at The Point stage – when seven festivalgoers were transferred to hospital from the festival for minor injuries, the event has continued normally.

“All necessary safety measures are in place, as reviewed and agreed with our partner agencies, and we are looking forward to a great finale to this year’s festival. We’d like to thank the 58,000 people who have joined us at Boardmasters this year and remind them that advice for leaving the event safely tonight and tomorrow is available from our teams on site and on our social media channels.”

One of those affected, Iola Hartgroves, 17, has described the “traumatising” moment she was pinned to the floor during the incident and recalls feeling “so helpless”. She and a group of friends were right in the centre of the crowd at The Point stage when the swell began. Iola ended up pinned to the ground with her legs crushed by other people, and was only able to move her arms.