BOARDMASTERS organisers have announced a raft of improvements for the festival next year following criticism about how the event was run in August.

Vision Nine will be implementing extra security, traffic management changes and campsite enhancements after listening to festivalgoers and stakeholders.

There will be a 20 per cent increase in security to improve general safety, which will be deployed to crowd and behaviour management positions.

Twenty five more entry search lanes will be organised to provide deeper searches, without increasing waiting times. There will also be an increase in the number of Wi-Fi hot spot zones in the arena and campsites and designated phone lines for free outgoing calls.

The improvements to the festival site follows seven festivalgoers being injured after two crowd surges occurred at the Point Stage ahead of DJ Sammy Virji performing on Friday, August 9.

The traffic management plan will be updated for the 2025 festival, which will include an increase from 85 to 119 long distance bus routes, 50 coaches serving the park and ride as well as a drop off close to gates creating speedy travel and reduced time lugging heavy bags.

A new traffic management system brought in for this year’s Boardmasters, which stopped people from being able to drive to the festival site through Porth, largely prevented congestion in Newquay.

But there were long queues along the A392 as people arrived at the festival site and outlying areas saw an increase in traffic. There will also be improvements to the camping site after some campers complained there was too much disturbance.

Boardmasters will be doubling the number of elevated watchtower locations with 24-hour security presence. There will also be a 50 per cent increase in high visibility security patrols, day and night.

A dedicated camping plot and premium facilities will also be installed as well as a chilled camping zone with an 11pm noise curfew. Boutique Camping will have a wider range of tent options.

A spokesperson for Boardmasters, in a social media post, said: “Since August we have been working hard behind the scenes to reflect and review, listening to all of your feedback along the way. Your honest thoughts are invaluable and help us to make the Boardmasters experience better each and every year.

“Our goal is to make sure your time with us is nothing short of amazing. This is only the beginning. There will be more updates coming soon.”

Newquay BID recently staged a meeting with representatives from the Boardmasters' management team to put forward ideas how Vision Nine could help improve trade for Newquay businesses during the surf and music festival after carrying out a consultation with members.

It follows numerous businesses stating they lose trade during Boardmasters as many “families and couples” avoid visiting the town when the event is being held.

Food and drink outlets, supermarkets as well as camping shops see a surge in business when Boardmasters is held but many other businesses say their trade declines.

One improvement a number of businesses would like to see is a temporary mobile phone mast being erected as the Wi-Fi signal was weak at times during this year’s festival due to the sheer number of people trying to use the networks, which led to them loosing custom as they could not run their card machines.