Most of you probably know how much Loanne and I enjoy festivals, so when Visa invited us to experience Boardmasters festival as a VIP in luxury bell tents with surf lessons and a private flight experience over the picturesque Cornwall countryside we were ready to sign up straight away!
This year Visa was a sponsor of Boardmasters working with its partner, Square to bring up to 100% card acceptance to the festival for the first time in its 36-year history.
We arrived on Wednesday evening to our luxury bell tents complete with beds, duvets, electricity and charging facilities and to top that off every morning we pre-ordered breakfast - using contactless no less - from our tent, which was delivered right to us by our dedicated Visa butlers. A faraway cry from what we are used to at festivals, so it was an extremely pleasant surprise!
The festival grounds were spacious and location wise probably the most beautiful location in the UK for a festival. The music was great too and we were able to enjoy the most epic sunsets whilst dancing away to some incredible DJs amongst stretches of beautiful beach as a backdrop which made the experience even better.
During our 4 days we spent time wandering around the festival going on rides, eating the delicious food and drinks from the food trucks and bars. Visa provided us with a pre-paid debit card and a wearable to make simple transactions throughout our time there which made everything so much easier, time- efficient and allowed us to forget about money! Usually at festivals it’s such a pain to have to find the nearest cash machine and then walk around with loose coins and change in our bum bags, so being able to pay with a tap of the wrist or card was ideal.
We also had access to the Deck, Visa’s exclusive viewing platform, which offered the best seats in the house and its Visa Everywhere Lounge where we watched thousands of people dance along to Jamiroquai, what an amazing experience! On Friday, we watched some epic DJs and danced for 6 hours straight to Camelphat and Sonny Fodera which was certainly our highlight.
To top off the ultimate Boardmaster’s experience Visa organised a private flight experience where Loanne got to fly the plane over the festival, the views were breathtaking as we flew over the picturesque festival and stunning stretches of sandy beaches.
On our final day we had a 2 hour surf lesson which was so much fun, it was great to pick up the board again and surf some beginner-friendly waves.
Overall it was an incredible trip made so much more enjoyable with Visa. Although it was a very young crowd at the festival, the music and surroundings were stunning and definitely a festival we would recommend to music heads and those who love a breathtaking setting.