Fans hit out after festival cancelled at last minute
FANS have reacted with shock and anger after the Boardmasters musical festival was cancelled at the eleventh hour amid severe weather warnings.
The three-day event, due to be headlined by the Wu-Tang Clan, Florence + The Machine, and Foals, was due to start in Cornwall yesterday.
However, organisers pulled the plug late on Tuesday night after the Met Office warned of wild weather, including heavy rain and high winds.
In a statement, the festival said: “The safety of you, the fans and attendees, as well as performers and crew comes first.”
Music fan Tyler Mears, 26, and her partner Scott Humphries, 25, were due to travel to the festival from the Rhondda yesterday morning.
The pair had booked tickets several months in advance and are awaiting news from organisers about whether they will receive a refund.
Tyler, who works for WalesOnline, said: “I’ve never been to a festival before, so we decided to book tickets for Boardmasters around four months ago.
“The tickets costs us around £200 each and we also had to pay an extra £100 to park the campervan. That’s without everything else. We’ve bought food, drink, toiletries, clothes, as well as booking a pet-sitter for our dog and booking the time off work. I understand why they’ve cancelled it. I just can’t understand why they waited until 11pm last night. A lot of people might have already been on their way by that point.”
The couple said they will use the time off to take another trip instead – but are eagerly awaiting information about refunds.
Tyler added: “You’ve just got to look on the bright side, we’ve still got time off work, we’re still together and wherever we go we’ll still have a good laugh. I’m
just hoping we’ll get our money back.”
About 30 A-level students from Porthcawl Comprehensive School were also set to attend the five-day event.
The group was planning to leave Cardiff at 9am on The Big Green Coach, a bus specifically arranged for Boardmasters transport.
Clare Cox, mother of one of the students, Alys, said: “We were tucked up in bed by 10.30 last night, as we had an early start so found out at 6am this morning. [We] tried The Big Green Coach, but they’re not replying to email/Twitter.” Alys is totally gutted.”
A statement on the coach company’s website reads: “Due to these safety concerns at the festival site we will NOT be operating any coach services on Wednesday or Thursday to Boardmasters. Please do not go to your departure location. We will make a further statement to customers very soon.”
Organisers of the festival posted the following statement on its website and social media channels: “Following full consultation with all of the relevant authorities including independent safety advisors, Devon and Cornwall Police, emergency services and the Met Office, a final decision was made yesterday evening [Tuesday].
“Refund advice will be shared as soon as possible. We sincerely regret the disappointment to fans, and apologise for any disruption caused to local businesses, performers and crew who were looking forward to Boardmasters as much as we were.”
This year’s cancellation was not the first for the Boardmasters music festiva – the final day of the 2014 event was cancelled after the remnants of Hurricane Bertha swept across the UK.