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.
Ask locals about housing. Young families struggle to buy where they grew up. Workers who keep the local economy functioning are forced inland because holiday lets have driven prices beyond reach. Roads and services strain under seasonal demand. This is not unique to Cornwall, but in Cornwall it feels like Britain’s future is arriving fast – on the new Easyjet flights from Gatwick. Climate change heightens these pressures. As southern Europe braces for regular 40°C temperatures, Britain’s southwest looks rather attractive. Cornwall’s beaches, breezes and temperatures are an increasingly compelling alternative to the Med’s summer heat. That’s good news for tourism, but challenging for Cornwall.
Demand, already intense, is only likely to increase. More visitors, more second-home buyers, more people, like our neighbours – working remotely, overlooking the Atlantic. The danger lies in allowing popularity to overwhelm place. Local authorities face an unenviable balancing act. They need investment for vital jobs and opportunity, but they also need affordable homes, sensible planning and decent infrastructure that serves residents and visitors alike. Cornwall truly risks becoming a victim of its own success. Across the street from us overlooking Fistral Beach is a disastrous unfinished development – out of keeping with the area and languishing, after its former developer, recently convicted of multiple offences related to dumping materials including asbestos, was declared bankrupt.
Beautiful coastlines exist in plenty of places. Cornwall’s appeal is that it is still lived in; still has communities with their own traditions and character. Lose that, and you don’t just fail Cornish residents, you diminish the experience visitors seek in the first place. Watching the crowds pour into Boardmasters, we saw what the future looks like – not just for Newquay, but for much of Britain’s coastline. The question isn’t whether more people will want a slice of Cornwall. It’s whether Cornwall can remain Cornwall once they arrive.
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