Boardmasters

Surf's up in Newquay!

Travel

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2017

Surfing

Ever since I saw and fell in love with the film Point Break I wanted to surf. By the time I was 20 I had been body boarding for over a decade. It just didn't fill that void of me wanting to surf. One year my dad took me on a long weekend to Newquay where we rented boards and were taught to ride the waves. I loved the feeling of power underneath my feet, rushing towards the shore at speed and being able to manipulate this power with subtle movements of my body.

It wasn't long after this that I grew my hair long to try and embody Keanu Reeves as much as possible.

Keanu Reeves / Me

It wasn't just surfing that I fell in love with. For fear of sounding like a cliche, Newquay is a state of mind. Everybody is more relaxed. There are so many bars and restaurants with views of the beach that becoming relaxed and content in the moment is inevitable. The fresh air and smell of surf wax (which you can purchase from every other store) also helps.

A few years ago I took my girlfriend to Newquay and she had a very similar experience, so much so that she now has her own surf board and wetsuit. Kate particularly like the fact that dogs seem to be allowed everywhere in Newquay, they seemed to be allowed in every shop. One evening we were having our dinner is a very nice seafood restaurant and noticed that under a couple of tables there were dogs just chillin' like snowmen. A lover of everything furry, this was a game changer for Kate.

Boardmasters

A while ago I was talking with a festival enthusiast friend of mine about the best live music performances they had witnessed. They said Snoop Dogg at Boardmasters in Newquay was way up there. I'd been to Newquay several times but didn't know much about Boardmasters. For those who were like me and don’t know, Boardmasters is an annual music, surfing and skateboarding festival held in Newquay, at the end of August. From what my friend told me, it sounded awesome and once I researched it myself I knew I had to go. Being a festival vet and lover of Newquay, it took zero effort to persuade Kate this was a good idea. So this year we went.

The Campsite

Boardmasters being a festival we had to do it right and camp. We opted for Boardmaster’s VIP Camping option because at my age I like the option of not smelling like arse to be readily available to me. To get to our site we walked past a couple of large muddy fields crammed with tents on top of tents. The camp site was also home to a fair ground (which ran all night). There were so many tents that some had to be set up mere feet away from fairground rides and some from the portaloos. (After a few days of camping it was hard to decide which was worse). We were starting to get a little fearful for what we should expect. 

When we got to the VIP section at the far side of the site, we were so glad we'd paid that little extra. It took us no time to find a patch where we could pitch our tent with plenty of surrounding room but not enough for any new neighbours to set up. Instead of portaloos we had temporary buildings with plumbing, a private bar and about 15 times as many showers per head than the rest of the campers and a private bar. 

One night, after being in bed for an hour or so we were woken up by a bright light surrounding our whole tent, Kate told me to ignore it and go back to sleep. I'm a light sleeper and curiosity got the better of me, so I opened the tent door a saw a flood light only 30 yards from our tent had been turned on. There were a few flood lights in the camp site but I had never noticed any on near our tent. I spoke to two guys whose tent was even closer to the light and apparently one of the stewards had come along and turned it on, I decided I was going to turn it off. They agreed it was a good idea. I climbed the fence that had been set up around it, jumped down, hot the 'Off' button and was back over the fence and in my sleeping bag 30 seconds later to a chorus of cheers. I felt at that moment I was the real rock star of Boardmasters.

The same night/morning after of the flood light escapade I woke up again. This time I needed to relieve myself more than I thought was possible without dying from pain. The problem was, it sounded like a giant had the same issue and was doing it directly above our tent. I didn't want to go outside but I needed to do something. I got out of the main compartment of the tent and squatted in the porch which was about four foot high. I found an empty bottle and tried using this. It was not easy to do and I nearly lost my balance a couple of times. This was not working. I was not sure if my fingers were damp with dew from losing my balance or for another reason. The toilets were too far away in this rain so I decided I would go use a nearby bush. Before I did this and before pulling my trousers back up I opened the front door of the tent to see how much it really was raining and was greeted by two stewards who happened to be walking past the front of our tent with flash lights. I was greeted with, "Are you, OK?". I replied "Yes", zipped the tent close, pulled my trousers up, grabbed a jacket and ran to the facilities provided.

Surf – Belushi’s

We arrived on the Wednesday but the music festival didn’t start until Friday so we booked some lessons with the Escape Surf School. It's based at a sheltered, safe and sandy beach. A great location and no matter the size of the waves on the day they are pretty regular consistently "surfable(?)".

Kate and I both got the surf bug from Newquay but do most of our surfing at East Wittering. The waves at EW don’t get power until closer to the shore so we are used to having to get our feet on the board quicker than in Newquay. Also, whilst they don't arrive as consistently, EW’s average ridable wave has a bit more power than Newquay's. Newquay's waves also break further from the shore. As a result of this, it took us both some time to realise we didn’t need to rush our transitions so much. Chilled zen surfing is the way to do it in Newquay. 

After a long morning of surfing we were both happy, relaxed and in need of sustenance. Belushi’s it was (belushis.com/bars/newquay).

Belushi’s bar shares the same plot of land with Escape so it was a quick shower and next door for some massive juicy burgers, beers and sweet potato fries. The bar is on top of a small cliff overlooking the beach we had just been surfing. A great view and place to chill until we got our energy back.

Fistral Site

Boardmasters was split over three sites; the campsite, the music festival itself and the surf & skateboard competitions at Fistral Bay. Fistral was rammed with stalls selling definitively ‘cool’ items. Stalls that sold watches and sun glasses made from beautifully polished repurposed drift wood, hipster fashion vest and t-shirts, hand made stained leather wallets. Before we got to Boardmasters, Kate said she expected to spend most of her money at the festival on clothing. Now I could see why. In the end, I settled for the classic Boardmasters grey sweater with the letter ‘b’ on the front. Very vanilla of me.

The surfing conditions that day were mediocre and it was low tide when we were there so we didn’t watch much of that. The skateboarding competition was good fun to watch and took place on a custom half pipe. The commentators were skateboard celebrities of some sort. Funny guys whose banter was as entertaining as the competitor's skills.

The skateboarding competition was sponsored by a company called ‘Canna’. It seemed that Canna had been giving out merchandise before we arrived as every other person was wearing a bright green Canna hat or wearing a Canna poncho. I’d never heard of Canna. Randomly, a week after Boardmasters I saw a guy at my local gym wearing a Canna hat. He'd got it from Boardmasters and did not know what Canna did either but said that he saw Canna staff selling bags of plant fertiliser at the competition as well as the festival. Looking at their website, that sounds about right (canna-uk.com). A very random sponsor.

The Acts

One of the thing I enjoyed the most was the eclectic line-up. There were the headliners, like Jamiroquai and Alt-J who I was really excited about seeing. There were also a lot the acts I’d only really heard in passing on the radio and was interested in hearing more of.

After walking around the festival, scouting out the different stages, the first set we stayed for its entirety for was Will Heard’s. He really impressed me. His lunch time set in the midday sun was perfectly timed for the cold beer I was drinking at the time. I was so impressed by him. Cool, energetic and an awesome singer. One of the best things about Boardmasters was being introduced to quality artists I hadn’t heard much of before but will want to continue listening to in the future.

Every act we saw was solid. Stormzy, Lethal Bizzle, Flaming Lips, Kate Nash and Will Heard, were all excellent. I did not know until Boardmasters how many songs I recognised and liked by Two Door Cinema Club (still not fussed tho). The two standouts, unsurprisingly, were Alt-J and Jamiroquai.

Jamiroquai were the act I was looking forward to more than any and watching them live made me feel like they changed my life. Their live arrangements were alien to the radio edits and they were mind blowingly good! Supersonic live is the best thing I have ever heard! 

As they were both headliners, Jamiroquai and Alt-J's sets were after the sun had gone down and made good use of psychedelic lighting affects. I felt like a moth staring at a light trap. The party atmosphere was most present tho during the sets of both Stormzy and Lethal Bizzle. They played the crowd pleasers and got everybody involved. Lethal Bizzle now hold the record for the largest mosh pit I have ever seen. He told the crowd he wanted to see the biggest mosh pit he has ever seen and he got it. The crowd parted as if they were commanded by Moses. If there was anybody in the middle who didn't want to be there then that was tough. You may as well drop someone in the middle of the South Pacific and tell them to swim for shore.

VIP Area

As part of our VIP package we were granted access to a VIP bar area in the main festival site. This was great. It has two separate bars, food, shaded and unshaded seating areas, DJ and bathroom area. It was relatively central so if we didn’t fancy queuing for anything we just came here. Less queues and less smell. More time for beer and burgers. Good times!

When we arrived at our campsite on the first day there were several stalls selling a beer called ‘Soul Arch’. The price was ridiculous, something like £30 for a pack of 12 stubby cans. I also saw they sold it at Belushi's. Whilst in the VIP area, I thought I may as well try it. It was bloody good! A mellow, flavoursome, easy to drink IPA. I’m into my craft beers and it was better than many so called craft IPA’s.

The Keg & Pasty Local 

The Keg and Pastie was a local style Pub set up in the music festival. It was a good place to go for entertainment with a more relaxed atmosphere.  There were small music events and comedy events. When it came to the comedy acts, there were some big hits and there were some big misses too. But a lot more hits. There was a wide variety of musical acts, ranging from the new Ed Sheeran to a Ska Punk band. These were all good in their own ways and some were really impressive. Apart from the acts, it was a great place to just hang out with a cold drink and a hot pasty. 

Nitro Cold Brew

Kate and I are big coffee drinks. When I say this, I don't mean this in the way of having five cups a day. We like big mugs of strong, black, quality coffee. None of this Costa malarkey.

There was an indoor stage that housed the most hipster of the alternative performers Boardmasters had to offer. Seeking shelter from the lunchtime sun on day we went inside. They were offering a cold brew coffee called Nitro. It was poured from a pump like a beer and looked, smelt and tasted like a combination of Guinness and strong coffee. It went down so smoothly and then proceeded to blow my face off. Loved it!

Goodbye Boardmasters

Our time in at Boardmasters was awesome. From surfing and chilling at the beginning to enjoying the amazing acts and party atmosphere once the festival started. I even look back at the events of the rainy night with a smile. I also don't regret having to push the car through the mud in order to leave. It was all part of the experience. I will be going to Boardmasters again very soon. It was no question the most enjoyable thing I had ever spent money on.