Illegal rave in Cornwall raged on for three days next to model aircraft exhibition

Thousands of people travelled from across the UK this weekend to attend an illegal party in Cornwall which continued for three days.

The impromptu weekender first appeared on the Davidstow Moor in Camelford close to the border of Devon on Friday ahead of the Jubilee weekend. Residents reportedly began complaining about loud music played through the night on Friday.

According to Cornwall Live, the motivation behind the party was deciphered from a secret text message where it was revealed that the free party was held to celebrate 30 years of Castlemorton — arguably the biggest free party ever held in the UK.

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The text kindly asked partygoers to “leave the site as we find it” and “be respectful to the locals and the authorities”. Attendees reportedly travelled from all over the UK to attend the event, some even as far as Scotland.

Coincidentally, a model aircraft exhibition conducted by the Cornwall War Museum was taking place on the airfield over the same weekend which had to be cordoned off by police to allow visitors through to the museum. Nearby signposts read: “Model exhibition Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon” close to the free party.

One local taking care of the model exhibition took to Facebook to detail how museum-goers could bypass the rave and make it safely to the exhibition via a local cheese factory.

The rave took place in an abandoned airfield which was attended by police after reports of loud music in the area.

“A number of people have left this morning and others attempting to enter have been turned away,” the Devon and Cornwall police said on Sunday as hundreds of attendees were pictured still on the site, taking refuge from the rain in cars and vans.

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“In the interest of public safety, we are asking anyone thinking about attending the event not to do so. [We] would like to reassure the local communities and wider public that we are taking this matter seriously,” they said.

Police began turning away partygoers and surrounding local roads to stop attendees from entering the free party over the weekend.

On Facebook, one local farmer argued that those in attendance were “all good people” and cleaned up after themselves once the party finished.

“For all the locals saying the rave at Davidstow have left all the rubbish behind, I've got livestock in the vicinity and have had no problems at all and there refusing to leave until they have picked all the litter up, and I've found them all good people,” he said.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Editorial Assistant, follow her on Twitter