The Rip Curl Boardmasters is nearly with us. There are just three days to go before the biggest surfing event in Britain kicks off, but anyone looking for an appetizer might care to make their way to Newquay for tonight’s K Festival. The K-fest, as it is known, takes place at Barrowfield and overlooks the surf on Newquay's townside beaches. ‘K’ stands for Kernow – Cornwall, to the uniniated – and the event’s organisers claim that the best of surf music will rock Newquay for an uninterrupted 12 hours. The line-up includes Goldie Lookin’ Chain, whose surfing credentials elude me but whose hit “Your missus is a nutter” never ceases to make me smile, as well as the John Butler Trio (all the way from Australia), the Upper Room, Scott Matthews, the Fallout Trust and headline act Athlete.
Local bands Joe Francis and the Ammunition, the Noel Pryor band and The Reels will also appear, and, for those with unyielding stamina, New Order’s bassist Peter Hook will join the K-Fest crowd to provide his own tunes on the decks at the innocuously named "after party" at one of Newquay’s leading clubs, the Koola Bar. Lest all this sounds a little on the intense side, the K-Fest is a family event and party-goers will be searched for drugs before admittance. Title sponsors Budweiser will also be advocating responsible drinking rather than outright hedonism via its “Responsibility Matters” campaign. There is also plenty to do besides chill out to music, with freestyle mountain bike performances courtesy of lead sponsor Animal, a number of food and drink outlets, robot shows, stilt walkers and a “chillout dome” provided by Honda.
Sounds like a good way to warm up for the Boardmasters. Talking of which, it looks like the summer flat spell might be over. Swell is forecast, but so is wind. Junky three-foot is better than nothing, but who knows, it might even be clean and offshore. Here’s to a fine weekend, and a cracking couple of Kernow events.
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