All the road closures and traffic information as Newquay readies for Boardmasters
Up to 50,000 festival-goers are expected to descend on the town over the next four days
Last updated 10th Aug 2022
Ahead of Cornwall's Boardmasters 2022, organisers have shared detailed information about traffic management and road closures.
This year's festival takes place Wednesday 10th - Monday 15th August at Watergate Bay and Fistral Beach in Newquay.
Up to 50,000 people are set to descend on the area, with police laying on extra patrols in the town centre and festival sites.
Festival Arrivals and Departures
Boardmasters festival encourages attendees to travel by train, coach, or car share. Festival shuttle buses will be running every 15 minutes from Newquay Town Centre to the main festival site at Watergate Bay for those travelling to and from Newquay train station.
As with all major events and with a sell-out show on the horizon, traffic will be busy and queues are expected. Festival-goers will be arriving to camp at the festival from Wednesday 10th August in addition to day ticket holders who will arrive each day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Festival organisers expect Wednesday 10th August to be the busiest day for arrivals at Watergate Bay, when around 60% of campers will arrive on site. Festival car parks will open from 7am, with organisers predicting peak arrivals by car will take place from 10am - 4pm on Wednesday and Thursday.
Camping customers will leave the festival on Monday 15th August - organisers anticipate traffic will be busiest between 8am and 4pm on that day.
Avoiding Traffic Incidents
Due to an unforeseen external traffic incident in 2021, departure from festival carparks on Monday was severely delayed. Organisers cannot predict whether this will happen again, but in the unlikely instance that a similar situation re-occurs, various measures have been put in place to mitigate the severity of the situation, including staggering departures and keeping the campsites and facilities open longer on Monday.
Boardmasters advises residents to avoid unnecessary journeys near to the Boardmasters festival site during peak arrivals and departures – and thank local residents for their patience.
Watergate Bay Road Closures
The Watergate Road closure will be in place each day on Wednesday 10th – Thursday 11th August between 6pm and 3am and Friday 12th - Sunday 14th August between 4pm and 3am.
The road closure is between Blue Car Park (up from the Sands Resort Hotel & Spa) and the bottom of the hill at Watergate Bay will create a safe crossing between our main arena and campsites for festivalgoers.
As a measure to further reduce local traffic during the event we will implement a £30 car park re-entry fee to encourage use of our shuttle bus services.
Fistral Beach Road Closures
At Fistral Beach, where the surf competition takes place, a road closure will be in place on Headland Road from Monday 8th – Monday 15th August from 8am – 8pm each day. Parking at Towan Headland car park will be suspended for the duration of this time. Parking at Fistral Beach will be suspended completely from Wednesday 10 – Sunday 14 August.
You can contact Boardmasters via email at boardmasterscommunity@visionninegroup.com or, on live days, the site office is contactable via 01637 817 444.
On Wednesday lunchtime, Inrix Traffic and Travel said: "Long delays and queueing traffic due to Boardmasters Festival on roads around Porth Beach.
"Congestion to most routes through Newquay, St Columb and Quintrell Downs".
The latest incidents affecting Cornwall's roads can be found on our traffic and travel page.