On a grey and windswept Bank Holiday Friday, the rolling grounds of Wiston Park in Steyning, West Sussex, were filled with the sounds of a Christian festival: music, laughter, families settling onto picnic blankets, children running between tents, and the easy warmth of a community gathered in faith. The Big Church Festival, an annual not-for-profit gathering designed to bring people together through worship, music and fellowship, had been building toward its main day. Then, at 3.38pm, everything changed. A large wooden sign, part of the festival’s visual landscape, toppled over in what witnesses described as a strong gust of wind. The sign read “Everything’s Unmissable” — a phrase meant to celebrate the abundance of the event, but which now reads as a cruel and haunting irony. It fell onto a group of people, killing a 41-year-old man from Eastbourne and injuring at least six others. Critical care paramedics were scrambled to the site, but the man could not be saved and died at the scene. His next of kin have been informed. The festival was immediately paused, then closed for the weekend. The words on that sign will now be impossible to separate from the tragedy that unfolded beneath it, and the quiet fields of Wiston Park, so full of life only moments before, became the setting for a grief that no one had expected.
Those who were there describe a scene of terrifying suddenness. Fred Abbott, from Morden in south London, was standing with his family near Tom’s stage in the Field of Fun, about twenty metres from the sign, when he heard a massive crack and bang. He and a friend ran over and joined dozens of others — around thirty to fifty people — in trying to lift the heavy wooden structure off those trapped beneath it. Another attendee, Andy Ollerton, said he was walking just a few paces behind when the huge overhead sign came crashing down on the people in front of him. He rushed with others to lift it, then did his best to administer first aid until paramedics arrived. The weather had been unsettled all weekend, with the Met Office warning of gusts up to 30mph, and the wind was later identified by witnesses as the immediate trigger. But in the chaos of the moment, there was no time to think about causes. There was only the desperate, instinctive effort to help, the weight of the wood, the cries of the injured, and the long wait for emergency crews. The festival grounds, which had been a place of easy joy only minutes before, became a scene of shock and sorrow. Strangers became rescuers, and the community that had gathered to celebrate together suddenly found itself bound together by something far darker.
Emergency services responded quickly and with care. Police, ambulance crews, critical care paramedics and specialist response teams all arrived at Wiston Park. Detective Chief Superintendent Richard McDonagh described the incident as tragic and said his thoughts were with the man’s family and friends at an incredibly difficult time. He confirmed that at least six other people were injured and had been taken to hospital for treatment, and said police were working with a number of partners to establish exactly what happened. The South East Coast Ambulance Service said six patients were initially looked after by crews, with four taken to local hospitals — two with more serious injuries and two with less serious injuries. The organisers of Big Church Festival, who had earlier paused the event, released a full statement just after 10pm. They said they were devastated, that all their thoughts were with those affected, and that they had made the decision to bring the festival to a close. Their immediate priority, they said, was the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved and helping those still on site to leave safely. They also confirmed they were working with the emergency services, police and the Health and Safety Executive to establish the circumstances. The statement ended with words that captured the mood: “Big Church Festival is about bringing people together. Tonight, that community is grieving.”
In the hours that followed, the grief rippled far beyond the festival field. Attendees described being absolutely reeling and devastated, in a bit of shock. Andy Ollerton, who had helped lift the sign and administered first aid, said he was sure many others who witnessed it were too. He also noted that the festival took decisive action in difficult circumstances, and that the crowds stayed calm and respectful. But alongside the shock, there were harder questions. Many at the festival, and many more in the wider Christian community, found themselves asking not only “Why did this happen?” but also “Why did God let this happen?” Dame Sarah Mullally, a senior Church of England leader, said she was sad and shocked to hear what had happened, and offered prayers to the victim’s loved ones as they grieved. “May the God of comfort and healing be with them all,” she said. ParentFuel, a Christian parent support organisation, praised the festival for the way it handled the situation, while also trying to make sense of the senseless. “What happened was awful. It was a freak accident. But God is still good,” the group said, adding: “Life is so precious and so, so short. This weekend brought that ever closer for us all.” Those words, offered in the raw aftermath of tragedy, reflect the difficult space between faith and doubt, between trust and bewilderment, that many people now occupy.
The Big Church Festival is not a large commercial enterprise; it is an annual, family-friendly music and worship gathering, run not for profit, with a line-up spread across Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The day of the tragedy was meant to be the main event, the culmination of months of planning, prayer and preparation. For many attendees, the festival is a highlight of the year — a chance to meet old friends, make new ones, worship together and feel part of something bigger than themselves. The organisers’ statement spoke directly to that identity: “Big Church Festival is about bringing people together. Tonight, that community is grieving.” The decision to close the festival, rather than try to continue, was described by one attendee as decisive action in difficult circumstances. It was a recognition that no performance, no speaker, no moment of worship could possibly be more important than the lives and hearts broken on that field. The incident has been reported to the Health and Safety Executive and the local authority, and investigations will now focus on how a large sign could fall so suddenly, and whether anything could have been done to prevent it. But for those who were there, the official inquiries will run alongside a deeper, more personal search for meaning.
Tragedy has a way of stripping away the ordinary and forcing us to confront what matters. The sign that fell on Friday was meant to be a cheerful promise — “Everything’s Unmissable” — but in a single gust of wind it became a reminder of how fragile life is, and how quickly everything can change. A man went to a festival, perhaps with family or friends, expecting a day of music and community. He did not come home. Six other people are in hospital, carrying physical wounds that will heal, but also memories that will not. The witnesses who rushed to lift the sign, who gave first aid, who held the hands of strangers, will carry those moments with them for the rest of their lives. The festival community, which gathers around faith and fellowship, now finds itself gathered around grief. There will be time for answers, for investigations, for questions about safety and weather and structural integrity. There will be time for the church to wrestle with the oldest question of all: why bad things happen to good people. But tonight, and in the days ahead, the most important thing is not an explanation. It is presence — being with those who mourn, offering comfort without easy answers, and remembering that life is precious and short. The Big Church Festival was built on the belief that people are better together. In the worst moment of its history, that belief was tested — and, in the actions of those who ran toward the fallen sign, it was also honoured.
