Extreme crowds expected for Brighton beach event (From The Argus)

Extreme crowds expected for Brighton beach event

10:20pm Friday 26th September 2008 in

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Britain's biggest extreme sports festival is expected to draw tens of thousands of people to the beach when it is held in a city next year.

Nigel Howell, founder of White Air, said the event will be held from September 18-20 on the beach to the east of the Palace Pier and in Madeira Drive in Brighton, which will be closed to traffic.

Twenty thousand tickets will be on sale for each of the three days but tens of thousands more are expected to watch from outside the festival grounds, he said.

White Air, which features beach, sea and land extreme sporting displays, had been held annually for 12 years in the Isle of Wight but it will expand thanks to the move to the city.

Mr Howell said: “I can confirm we are coming to Brighton. It is already a massive event but when it moves to Brighton it will be bigger.

“This year, it involved 25 sports but the plan is to make it the world’s leading extreme sports festival of this kind.

“In the Isle of Wight, one third of all visitors come from the mainland. It attracts people from all over Europe.

“It brings about £750,000 into the Isle of Wight economy each year but when it moves to Brighton it will create much more money. Brighton is the ideal location because it has a great long beach, prevailing side winds from the sea and amazing links to London and Europe.”

This year, the festival featured sports such as kite surfing, mountain biking, skating, frisbee and paragliding.

It also included a display by the Royal Air Force Red Arrows exhibition team and music from hit band Pigeon Detectives and DJ Rob da Bank.

In past years, spectators have been be able to try the sporting events and professionals have held demonstrations.

News of the switch from the Isle of Wight to Brighton was broken on the Isle of Wight-based Ventnor-Blog website, www.VentnorBlog.com.

David Lepper, MP for Brighton Pavilion, said: “It sounds like an exciting idea.

“It is a sign that Brighton and Hove is being taken seriously as a place for innovative and major events like this.

“It certainly could be a big boost for the economy if a large number of people spend money locally.”

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokesman would not confirm if the festival was definitely coming to the city.

He said: “Promoters and event organisers are approaching us about all sorts of events all the time.

“We like to stage these where practical as part of our priority to grow the local economy.

“We’re not in a position to announce any new event but wouldn’t rule it out.

“Any such move would require approval from the council’s cabinet.”