We LOVE Boardmasters Festival, it takes place in Watergate Bay (just outside of Newquay in Cornwall) and always features the FINEST bands and artists from across the world. The lineup this year is immense and nestled in amongst the plethora of amazing acts is a super talented Exeter based musician called SADIE HORLER.

I won’t lie to you, we’ve been following Sadie very closely over the past few years (not in a strange stalking kind of way, that would be creepy!) and have watched her grow into a fine songwriter who is admired both locally and further afield. When I heard that she had been selected to appear at this years festival, I just had to get in touch and chat about what it meant to her. Read on to see how we got on…

Hi Sadie, how did you feel when you heard that you were going to be playing at Boardmasters Festival this year?

It was such a great feeling when I opened the email from Boardmasters inviting me to play there, and a bit of a shock to be honest!

I’ve played at many festivals in Devon but I have always wanted to play at a festival in Cornwall, and to be given the opportunity to play at the biggest and best for my first one is just amazing!

Please take this opportunity to sell yourself and convince people WHY they need to make sure they’re in the Net Loft when you’re performing….

The Net loft stage is such a cool stage and so many brilliant artists have graced it in the past, so it’s a huge honour to be playing on it.

My music is very chilled acoustic, I’ve been compared to Lucy Rose, Gabrielle Aplin, Daughter and Norah Jones.

So you could say that my set at 5:20pm on Thursday will be the calm before the storm, a good opportunity to relax and conserve energy before partying hard over the weekend!

My next single ‘Washed Up Mermaid’ will be released very soon. It’s a song which I have written about plastic pollution in the sea.

I feel that the song is very appropriate for Boardmasters who work closely with Surfers Against Sewage to protect the UK coastline. I’m looking forward to performing it there.

I have recently returned from a song writing retreat with Chris Difford from Squeeze. This has really inspired me and I have been furiously writing songs since returning. I’m looking forward to recording a few more of them over the next few months.

Another great reason to pop along to the Net Loft Stage is Camper Coffee have their stall there, and not only do Gary and Paul make the best coffee, they are also the friendliest baristas you will meet!

Have you played there or attended the festival as a punter before?

I first attended Boardmasters in 2016, it was a right of passage to go to the festival after finishing GCSE’s.

It was the first time I had been to a festival without my parents, and lets just say what happens at Boardmasters… stays at Boardmasters! 2019 will be my forth consecutive year of attending the festival.

Last year I could only attend on the Saturday and it was such a great day. The highlights for me were Flyte, Years and Years and one of my inspirations, the fabulously funky, Lily Allen.

All the other acts on previous years were equally amazing. 

You’re performing on the Net Loft stage alongside some incredible bands and artists, which others are you keen to check out whilst you’re there?

The Net Loft stage really does have an ace lineup this year, and even sweeter that the majority of acts are local to Devon/Cornwall. I’m probably going to be spending most of my time in the Net Loft listening to The Tree’s, Jamie Yost, Haunt The Woods, Milo Gore and so many more local artists too. Unfortunately I won’t be able to see Joanna Cooke on Wednesday evening, but she is definitely one to check out!

The festival attracts over 50,000 people every year, what do you think it is that keeps people coming back time and time again?

The location is perfect for a festival, Watergate Bay and Fistral Beach are so beautiful.

Having met someone from Scotland, I know that people travel hundreds of miles each year to attend.

Every year the line-up is outstanding with so many top artists performing there and musical genre’s to suit everyone.

There are some pretty incredible acts performing this year, tell me some of the bigger names that you’re keen to check out….

There are loads of great artists I can’t wait to see perform this year at Boardmasters including Bear’s Den, Ferris and Sylvester, Florence and the Machine and Plan B. I also love wandering around the festival site and coming across artists who I haven’t heard of before and listening to their music whilst soaking up the sunshine.  

A lot of the performers on the Net Loft stage this year are from Devon and Cornwall, how would you describe the music scene where you come from?

The music scene is definitely growing in Exeter, it’s home to some very successful artists such as Wildwood Kin and Sound of the Sirens. Keep your eyes peeled for Patten Pusher and Samantics, I have no doubt that both of these acts will be making big waves very soon!

Everyone is so supportive of each other and it’s been great to collaborate with a few local Devon artists.

I recently featured on Jamie Yost’s single ‘Runaway’ which is such a beautiful song.  I also collaborated with Ciaran Austin on his fab track ‘Golden Hour Winter’

Last year I put on an event to raise money for the ‘Musicians Against Homelessness’ charity. I was completely blown away by how supportive all the local musicians were in coming together and giving up their time for the event, it was a very successful night.



Whilst in Cornwall, I hope you’ll be partaking in a cream tea, a walk on the beach and maybe a surfing lesson?

After attempting to surf on a recent trip to Australia, I have come to the conclusion that surfing really is not for me. It’s not much fun ripping out your belly piercing whist attempting to climb on top of a surf board!

Beach walks and cream teas I think I could manage more easily, the only dilemma being what to put first on the scone, cream or jam?

Lastly, please tell us where people can keep up to date with you on social media…

You can keep updated on Facebook at ‘Sadie Horler’ and on Instagram and Twitter ‘@HorlerSadie’.

Follow me on Spotify as well to keep updated with my new tracks which will be dropping soon.

We’d like to thank Sadie for sparing her time to chat to us and we wish her every success in the future and especially for her set at 5:20pm on Thursday 8th August in the Net Loft at Boardmasters Festival.

Interview by Steve Muscutt