Fistral Beach / Watergate Bay, Cornwall | Wednesday 8 – Sunday 12 August 2018

For the most environmentally-friendly Boardmasters yet, aiming to keep the Cornish coastline cleaner than ever before and keeping it clean for years to come.

  • Two huge beach cleans took place last weekend in Cornwall with SAS
  • SAS received £20,000 from the Boardmasters Foundation this year for it’s tireless work keeping Britain’s beaches clean
  • Plans to reduce on site single-use plastics to levels close to zero
  • Litter bond on 40,000 camping tickets to help reduce the amount of non-recyclable waste generated by the festival
  • Ensure Boardmasters continues to be an event which works in harmony with the local community and local environment

Boardmasters surf and music festival in Cornwall has today revealed its sustainability plans for 2018. Taking place from 8-12 August across two stunning locations at Watergate Bay and Fistral Beach in Cornwall, Boardmasters festival organisers will continue their tremendous work to protect the local environment, implementing a robust, newly-developed strategy to ensure the cleanest, most environmentally-friendly and thoroughly enjoyable festival to date.

This August, 50,000 festival goers will head to Boardmasters for five days of world-class music, with headline sets from Catfish and the Bottlemen, The Chemical Brothers and George Ezra, and exhilarating surf action, soaking up everything that Cornwall has to offer. Boardmasters’ mission this year is to deliver a fun-filled festival, packed with exciting content and the biggest names in surf and music, while at the same time building on its existing mission to reduce its impact on the environment, and improve overall sustainability across both sites.

Last weekend, Boardmasters hosted two major beach cleans with charity partner Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), as part of the ‘Big Spring Beach Clean’ campaign. On Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 April, Boardmasters and SAS joined forces on Fistral Beach and Watergate Bay. Teams from Boardmasters, SAS and the general public worked together to clear plastic and general waste, cleaning up both beautiful beaches. 200 kilos of marine litter were collected by hundreds of volunteers over the weekend. On Fistral Beach on Saturday alone, 57kg of plastic pollution was cleared, 40% of this was avoidable plastics. Plastic Free Newquay will now begin work with 300 students from Tretherras School as part of Newquay’s Art8 Festival to create an art installation to raise awareness of marine litter.

For almost 20 years, Boardmasters and SAS have worked side-by-side to develop and implement environmental strategies for the festival and surrounding area and in 2017, SAS was the largest beneficiary of the new Boardmasters Foundation, receiving £20,000 to support their invaluable work to protect Britain’s beaches. It has just been announced that SAS has been selected by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as one charity to benefit from their wedding gift money.

In its most robust sustainability strategy yet, Boardmasters has unveiled its key goals and overall plans to implement them for the next three years. These goals include continuing to reduce the amount of single-use plastic items used on site such as water bottles and cups, to levels close to zero, reduction in overall waste generated by the event, increasing site-wide recycling, reducing its carbon footprint and plans to continue working harmoniously with the local community and environment.

For the first time ever, Boardmasters will this year implement a re-usable cup scheme, running across all main on-site bars which will massively reduce the amount of single-use plastic generated. Both public and staff are encouraged to opt for re-usable options wherever possible, this includes a drive to encourage anyone attending the festival to use or purchase re-fillable water bottles, with more water points available across the site. 2018 will also see the introduction of food banks to better manage trader and customer food waste. Litter bins and recycling points are increasing site-wide, including both arena and campsites.

Boardmasters will continue its work with Cornwall’s ‘Final Straw’ initiative, with no plastic straws available on site – this was first implemented on site in 2015 with great success. Its existing ‘litter bond’ which incentivizes all 40,000 camping customers to pick up their litter and recycle, and the car parking re-entry fee to discourage traffic on the roads surrounding the festival will continue for 2018, whilst Boardmasters ‘Green Team’ will increase in size to further educate festivalgoers on Boardmasters sustainability initiatives and how they can help.

Behind the scenes, Boardmasters festival organisers will be reviewing its inventory and working out which items or materials brought onto site can be cut or replaced with a more efficient or sustainable alternative. Suppliers and traders are encouraged to do the same. There will also be a focus on creating long term sustainable signage and branding, and continuing to use proper plates, cutlery and cups in artist and crew catering rather than plastic alternatives.

Inspired by the freedom, adventure and creativity of surfing and music, Boardmasters was born in 1981. Expect parties that run late into the night and a beautiful beach to recuperate on during the day. The 5-day event is situated across two stunning locations in Cornwall – the surfing mecca of the UK, Fistral Beach, where world class International Surf Competitions take place, and arguably the most stunning location in the country to watch live music, Watergate Bay. Last year the surf and music festival welcomed over 150,000 festival goers to sunny Cornwall. Book your tickets here.