SARfest came to East Cowes!

An extra BIG WightSAR Thank You.

Music, beer and cider lovers enjoyed a “festival” weekend, alongside raising vital operational funds for our all volunteer charity.

Isle of Wight Search and Rescue (WightSAR), supported by the amazing team at Waverley Park Holiday Centre, East Cowes, held a SARfest event over the late May Bank Holiday, raising £1310 of vital funding for the Unit.

The “free to enter” event, made possible with the support of Julian and his team at the picturesque coastal setting of Waverley Park Holiday Centre, had 8 local bands playing for free, inspiring poetry readers and a popular selection of beer and ciders on sale, with members of the WightSAR team demonstrating their pint pulling skills.

Security for the event was provided by local firm, Solent Security, who also made a generous donation towards the final amount raised, alongside Sean from local business, A1 Garage Doors.

Dean Terrett BEM, Chairman and Founder of WightSAR said “We are humbled with the support given, enabling us to hold this first SARfest event. I cannot thank enough the Waverley Park Holiday Centre team for hosting this event, all the brilliant local bands who played for free and everyone who donated towards the final amount raised. With no central funding, WightSAR raises all operational funds including equipment purchase by various fundraising activities and this amount will truly help save lives across the IOW. We hope to run SARfest as an annual event so watch out for news in 2026”.

Find out more about WightSAR at https://www.wightsar.org