BOARDMASTERS organisers have hailed this year’s festival a success and plans for the 2027 event are already underway.

Vision Nine says a cumulative 158,000 attendees visited the festival across the five days at Watergate Bay and Fistral Beach, an increase of eight per cent on the year before.

Festival director Rob Spring said: “This year's Boardmasters was everything we could have dreamed of when we started planning each edition, five days of incredible music, world-class surfing and that unmistakable Cornish spirit and sunshine that makes this festival what it is.

“Watching people come together on our coastline, from the main stage all the way down to the sensory calm space, is exactly why we do this. We're already excited to get started on 2027 and we can't wait to welcome everyone back next year for what's shaping up to be our biggest year yet.”

Headline sets came from Fatboy Slim, who turned the main stage into an open-air dancefloor on Friday; Lily Allen, who performed her West End Girl album on Saturday; and Kasabian, who closed the main stage on Sunday. The Kooks, Loyle Carner, Nia Archives, Rudimental, Pendulum, Goldie and The Darkness also played across the weekend.

Falmouth-based folk artist Essy Sparrow opened Sunday's main stage as the inaugural winner of Boardmasters Breaking, the festival's new emerging artist competition with BBC Introducing. A new ocean protection partnership with Oceana UK, with protest artwork by Falmouth University students calling for an end to bottom-trawling in UK marine protected areas displayed at The View stage.

The wellness programme, featuring yoga, sound baths, and ice baths, provided a sanctuary for attendees to reset. The festival also provided a sensory calm space, offering a dedicated, soothing sanctuary for neurodiverse guests. This quiet zone was equipped with low lighting, earplugs, and weighted blankets.