Spend a day in Newquay, like I have, during the Boardmasters Festival week and you soon hear the complaints. The roads are jammed – although they are much improved this year – supermarkets are rammed and parking is a nightmare. Around 58,000 festivalgoers have descended on Cornwall’s surfing capital (as well as nearby Watergate Bay) and, for a few days, the town belongs to them or so it seems.
Then, talk to people who run businesses beyond the festival site. Several said this is actually their worst summer week. At first, that makes no sense. Surely 50,000 extra people is good for trade? Not when those people spend most of their time inside the festival, where they pay for food and drink before returning to campsites at night. The crowds are enormous, but much of the spending never reaches Newquay’s high street. What feels like boom time can leave independent businesses wondering what all the fuss was about – because other tourists stay away for this week.
Boardmasters is a microcosm of Cornwall’s wider dilemma. Tourism is both its greatest asset and source of tension. Nobody sensible would argue Cornwall doesn’t need visitors. They support thousands of jobs, sustain businesses and attractions and help keep towns alive. Newquay itself is rebounding from the faded, tough resort many remember from a generation ago. Regeneration investment has transformed parts of it. It feels smarter and more confident – it even has a Michelin-star restaurant. But success brings challenges.
