Mum rescued daughter from ‘terrifying crowd surge’ at Boardmasters Festival

‘My daughter and I got crushed against the barrier.'

A number of festival-goers were left injured in a ‘terrifying’ crowd surge at Boardmasters music festival in Newquay last Friday. 

A mother who attended the festival with her family reported a ‘massive issue with overcrowding’ and that ‘security were doing nothing about it’. 

‘When we went in, it wasn’t too bad but it started getting very, very crowded so we tried to move out,’ she said.

‘We couldn’t get out as there were still so many people streaming in.

‘We managed to push to the outer edge near the barriers and I called to a security person to ask why we couldn’t get out. She said there were too many people pushing in so we were stuck.

‘They were aware but did nothing about it despite seeing the danger.’

She then described a ‘massive crowd surge’.

‘My daughter and I got crushed against the barriers so I heaved her up and over a barrier and then pulled myself out,’ the woman said. 

The incident resulted in the cancellation of a planned set by DJ and producer Sammy Virji.

The Devon and Cornwall police said, ‘ We have been notified following a crowd surge at Boardmasters music festival in Newquay on Friday 9 August which left a small number of attendees injured.

‘The injured parties are currently being treated on-site by medical staff or have been taken to hospital to be checked over. None of the injuries are considered serious. This is an isolated incident and the festival continues.’

Boardmasters said: ‘We can confirm that Sammy Virji’s set was cancelled and that the Point stage was closed to allow on-site teams to respond to an incident in the audience.

‘No serious injuries have been reported and the pit and medical teams immediately assisted those involved. Safety is our number one priority and we thank Sammy and our audience for their understanding. All other stages have been unaffected and performances continue as planned.’

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