Having just received a phone call about final refunds we thought it was appropriate to reflect on the whirlwind events (excuse the pun) of the Boardmasters cancellation catastrophe.
When planning and hosting events there is one thing that is totally out of our control – the weather.
Like any event or special day that you spend months or even years planning, it can all be jeopardised by a sky full of grey clouds. Sometimes you can work around the wet showers and storms but unfortunately, it’s not always that easy. We recently experienced the nightmare of the “unforeseen weather circumstances” in the worst possible way (*insert sad face*)
We had a group all packed up and ready to head to Newquay for the amazing Boardmasters festival. Wrong.
At 11:50pm on Wednesday 7th August, a notification popped up on phones and devices around the world with the dreaded opening line… “Due to unforeseen circumstances and matters out of our control… *keep scrolling* sadly the festival has been cancelled.” Sigh. What a shame.
Create and pack your festival survival kit. You may feel like an over organised and fussy parent, but we promise on day three you’ll be very grateful for it! Our essentials include:
Anti-bacterial gel, baby wipes, dry shampoo, roll on deodorant, plasters, a pocket poncho, dry shampoo, clean socks, gaffer tape, bin bags for waterproof cover, packet of tissues and something minty fresh (Tic Tacs, Polos, Extra gum or one of each!!)
- Solar or battery powered fairy lights are a must. How else can you find your tent in the dark?
- Have back up cash on your person and buried deep in your bag. Who has cash these days? Yup, that’s right. However, if the card machines are broken when you’re at the front of the beer queue that’s taken 20 minutes to battle through you don’t want to be the fool who isn’t prepared for the worst!
- Refillable water bottles are an obvious choice but don’t forget your handy strap or belt attachment. Who wants to carry a water bottle around all day? No one. But who wants a gulp of fresh water in the early hours when you’re feeling a little worse for wear? Everyone.
- Scrap the pillow and just take a pillowcase. Fill the case full of your clothes and hey presto, makeshift pillow has been made! Then when you’re out and about, cover it in one of your bin bags so if it rains, you’re not coming back to have a soggy snooze!
- Have a second portable charger that’s charged in your bag. On the Monday when you’re travelling home, the last thing you want is a dead phone…
- Take a bigger tent than you think you’ll need. We think an extra 2 man on top of the size you are works well
- Sun cream is an essential. Again, this is another moany parent type tip but sleeping is challenging enough without factoring in aching muscles and burnt backs. Even if it’s overcast you can still catch those rays – and not in a good way!
- Wellies or boots maybe a bit of a pain to pack (especially if the forecast in sun) but if you can, wear them to the site and have them “just in case”. You’ll be grateful for them when the inevitable rain clouds burst open and the mud slide is created in the middle of the camp site.
- Put your phone away. Stop taking photos of everything, filming every second and posting on insta. Soak up the atmosphere and take in every moment. It will be over before you know it (plus, the photos and videos always get deleted because they always look awful!)
However, although it was bad news for the punters you had to have some sympathy for the production teams and crew members who had been building up to this one weekend for over a year. People who had travelled far and wide to work 18 hour shifts to keep everyone safe, well fed and entertained!
Students who had been banking on this weekend to earn their pre-uni money and freelancers who had no back-up work because it was too late. The people involved and the endless lists of affects it had on so many people was just ridiculous. You also had to be grateful for the fact that you hadn’t left home or started the 5-hour plus journey down to Newquay yet. Some people were less than a mile away from the site when the news hit. They stopped for a coffee and got told by the service station staff that Boardmasters had been cancelled dressed in their wellies, shorts and neatly braided hair (it could’ve been a lot worse!) – Picture of the festival site taken on the Thursday morning after cancellation .
Upon reflection of the event we have decided to put Freshly Squeezed Events top ten festival tips together. We regularly go to and organise festivals and events around the world so what better way to remember the Boardmasters festival (that never happened) than creating a helpful list that we can refer to for future events and remember fondly. Hopefully we’ll need it in August 2020 when we’re preparing for Boardmasters again! There are millions of these types of list out there, but we wanted to do our very own version. (It’s making us feel better anyway ) So, where to start..
So, it didn’t happen this time but we’re certain next time is just around the corner and now we have our handy list, we want to get going now…
