‘World’s shortest festival’ brings buzz to Isles of Scilly

A festival on a sandbar brought 90 minutes of merriment to hundreds of people in the Isles of Scilly.

The Low Tide Event took place in the channel between Tresco and Bryher, which is usually under 20ft (6m) of water, when the sea level subsided.

Tom Matthews, co-organiser, told BBC Radio Cornwall: “If you can imagine a few hundred people gathering in the middle of the sea.

“We do have a klaxon because we have to say at some point, ‘You really do need to go now’.”

The celebration began at about 11:40 BST and featured picnic benches, bars on the back of tractors and food served straight from a boat at high tide.

Describing the event as a “huge success”, Mr Matthews said there was a huge age range: “I spoke to an 87-year-old lady out enjoying the event with her granddaughter, and the next minute was chatting to a mum and her six-month-old baby,” he said.

The event was a “huge success”, he added, with a “buzz in the air” and “perfect weather”.

“You look out from the hillside and it’s like a load of ants crawling out on to the sandbar,” he said.

“It’s an event that really brings the islands together – we have stalls from both sides of the Tresco and Bryher channel, and people travel from across Scilly, Cornwall and beyond to attend this event.

“It’s magical seeing such a diverse group of people celebrating at such a unique event.

“We’re really proud of what the event has become, and what it brings to the islands, and to people’s holidays. I’m sure it creates memories to last a lifetime.”

Mr Matthews said “super low tides” affect the two islands, which are about 200m (656ft) apart, twice a year.

“It’s probably the only festival that’s dependent on air pressure, which dictates how far the tide goes out and how long we can stay on the sandbar,” he said.

“It’s a really spectacular event.”

Mr Matthews said they always spent the build-up “peeking at the weather forecast”, adding: “We’ve got it down a fine art now, basically we take everything we need out there.”

The first Low Tide Event was held in 2015 and Mr Matthews said organisers wanted to do “something you can’t do anywhere else in the world”.

“Then we found ourselves in the position that we couldn’t stop if we wanted to because people plan their holidays around it now.

“It must be the world’s shortest pop-up festival.”

Issy Tibbs, who lives in Bryher, said seeing “everybody come together in the middle of the channel” made it an “incredible event”.