Tragedy at Big Church Festival: pastor Robert Guanco killed after large festival sign collapsed
Pastor Robert Guanco, a 41-year-old from Eastbourne in the English county of East Sussex, died on 28 August 2026 after a large festival sign collapsed at Big Church Festival in West Sussex and struck several visitors. Sussex Police said officers were called to the site off Washington Road, on the Wiston Estate near Steyning, at around 15:38 local time. Guanco was pronounced dead at the scene, and his family was informed and provided with support from specially trained police officers. A subsequent official update stated that the South East Coast Ambulance Service assessed and treated five other people, four of whom were taken to local hospitals; two had more serious injuries and two had minor injuries. Organisers initially stopped the programme and later announced that Big Church Festival 2026 was being cancelled in its entirety, bringing to an end the three-day event that had been due to run until 30 August.
The accident happened on the first day of the sold-out festival, which describes itself as the largest Christian festival in the United Kingdom. According to information published ahead of the event, approximately 40,000 people were expected at the Wiston Estate over the weekend, with a programme of music, worship and family activities across multiple stages and festival areas. After the sign fell, emergency services launched a major response, and part of the A283 road was temporarily closed so that police, medical teams and other services could access the area without obstruction. Visitors were then instructed to follow safety guidance while the programme was suspended. As of 31 August, the cause of the structure's collapse had not been officially established.
Police appeal for witnesses and collect footage
Sussex Police continues to gather information about the circumstances of the accident as part of an operation being conducted under the name Operation Igloo. In a statement on 29 August, police stressed that thousands of people had been at the site at the time of the incident and appealed to anyone with relevant video footage, photographs or other information to come forward. Detective Chief Superintendent Richard McDonagh said police were working with several partners to establish exactly what had happened. Officers remained at the site the following day and, according to police, their work included gathering evidence for the coroner's proceedings as well as material that could assist Horsham District Council with the joint investigation. The Health and Safety Executive, the British regulator responsible for workplace health and safety, was also notified of the incident.
Police have not yet released a definitive technical description of the structure that fell or officially determined the cause of the accident. Some media reports mentioned windy conditions in the festival area, but such reports do not constitute a conclusion of the investigation. It has not been officially confirmed whether the decisive factor was weather, the method of installation, anchoring, structural load or some other cause. Expert inspections, organisers' documentation, footage from the site and witness statements will therefore be important in determining the sequence of events. While the investigation is ongoing, assigning responsibility in advance to any individual or organisation would be premature.
Subsequent information clarified the number of injured people
In the first hours after the incident, information about the number of injured people changed as emergency services processed information from the scene. The first police statement referred to at least six other injured people in addition to the 41-year-old man who died. Sussex Police later, citing the South East Coast Ambulance Service, published a more precise figure stating that five other people had been assessed and treated at the scene. Four patients were taken to local hospitals: two people with more serious injuries and two with minor injuries. According to that update, the fifth person did not need to be taken to hospital.
Such a difference between initial and subsequent figures is not unusual after major incidents, when police, emergency medical services and other agencies are collecting information in parallel. For that reason, the later official ambulance service update reported by police is the most relevant source for the current situation. As of 31 August, no new official statement had been issued with more detailed information about the condition of those hospitalised. The authorities therefore provided the public only with the general information that two of the four hospitalised people had suffered more serious injuries. The identities of the injured people have not been released.
Robert Guanco was a pastor of a church community in Eastbourne
The identity of the person who died was not released in the initial police statements, apart from the information that he was a 41-year-old man from Eastbourne. His church community later identified him as Pastor Robert Guanco, who served at Jesus the Living Water Church in Eastbourne. In a message published after the tragedy, the community described him as a devoted pastor, husband, father and someone who had made a profound impact through faith and service on the people who knew him. Public reactions particularly emphasised support for his family and members of the community facing the sudden loss.
News of Guanco's death also prompted reactions beyond his local church. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, said she was devastated by the news of the death and expressed her condolences to the family and friends of the man who died, as well as support for the injured, healthcare workers, visitors and festival organisers. Such reactions reflect the importance of Big Church Festival within Britain's Christian music and faith community, as well as the scale of the shock following the incident at an event intended to be a weekend of music, worship and fellowship. Organisers also said their thoughts were with everyone directly affected by the tragedy.
Festival stopped and remaining programme cancelled
Big Church Festival initially announced that the programme on 28 August was being stopped because of a serious incident at the site. Later that same day, organisers confirmed that the entire 2026 edition was ending early and that no further festival programme would take place. On the official website they said that the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved were the immediate priority and that they were working with emergency services and relevant authorities. Campers were asked to leave the site by noon on 29 August, and visitors were also given information about leaving the estate and collecting family members or friends. Organisers said they would contact ticket holders later with further information, including matters relating to purchased tickets.
The cancellation affected the entire programme that had been scheduled to run from Friday 28 to Sunday 30 August. The line-up included numerous well-known names in international contemporary Christian and gospel music, among them Lauren Daigle, CeCe Winans, Bethel Music, Elevation Rhythm and For King & Country, as well as numerous British performers and speakers. Before the event, the festival's official website stated that tickets for 2026 had sold out, while media and promotional materials referred to approximately 40,000 expected visitors. The decision to cancel therefore had a significant logistical impact: thousands of people had to leave the large temporary festival site, including campsites and supporting infrastructure.
Big Church Festival has grown into one of Britain's largest Christian events
The festival is held at the Wiston Estate in West Sussex, a rural estate near Steyning in southern England. It was launched in 2009 and over the years developed from the earlier Big Church Day Out concept into a multi-day festival featuring music, worship, talks, family activities, camping and programmes at multiple locations across the site. Organisers describe it as the largest Christian festival in the United Kingdom. For 2026, the event was planned as a full three-day weekend with no single-day tickets, which further increased the number of people staying at the site throughout the festival.
Large attendance also means complex temporary infrastructure: stages, tents, signs, barriers, communication points, catering areas, campsites and traffic corridors. That is why safety at events of this size involves multiple levels of planning, from site design and crowd movement management to monitoring weather conditions and the stability of temporary structures. The incident of 28 August is now at the centre of an investigation that must determine whether all relevant elements of the structure and risk management functioned as intended. There is currently no official conclusion that any failure occurred, so an assessment will only be possible after the technical and regulatory procedures have been completed.
What British rules require from organisers of large events
According to Health and Safety Executive guidance, event organisers are responsible for ensuring that safety risks are planned for, managed and monitored so that workers and visitors, so far as is reasonably practicable, are not exposed to hazards. The HSE specifically highlights the importance of clear allocation of responsibilities, competent personnel, monitoring the implementation of safety measures, communicating risks and continuously adapting if new conditions arise. For large festivals, this means that several responsible people may share oversight, but all must be familiar with risk assessments and the procedures activated when a new hazard emerges. The guidance also stresses the need to carry out a review of events together with the relevant services after a serious incident.
When designing a festival site, the HSE states that organisers must take into account ground conditions, load-bearing capacity, anchoring, the position of temporary structures, crowd flows and the impact of extreme weather conditions. The guidance specifically mentions the need to assess the effect of wind on temporary structures and signage. This is a general regulatory framework applicable to public events and does not mean that the cause of the accident at Big Church Festival has been established. Responsibility may also be shared: local authorities generally enforce part of the event safety regulations, while the HSE has specific powers for certain activities, including the erection and dismantling of some temporary demountable structures. In this case, police confirmed that they were working with Horsham District Council, and the HSE was notified.
Investigation will have to determine how the sign fell
The key question remains why the large festival sign fell onto visitors during the event. Investigators will have to reconstruct the condition of the structure before the collapse, how it had been installed and secured, conditions at the site and the moment of the incident itself. Videos taken by visitors could be particularly important because they may show how the structure behaved immediately before the fall and help establish the precise sequence of events. Police have therefore repeatedly appealed to witnesses to provide all relevant footage and information that could assist in reconstructing the incident. Such records may provide context about conditions at the scene.
In addition to police and coroner proceedings, the investigation could have broader regulatory significance for how temporary structures at large events are designed, checked and supervised. However, as of 31 August 2026, no finding establishing responsibility or the technical cause had been published. Police said new information would be released when possible, and until then official statements remain focused on gathering evidence and supporting the family of the person who died and others affected by the tragedy. Big Church Festival organisers have also not released a detailed technical assessment of the collapse, instead prioritising the closure of the event and the safe departure of visitors after the incident.
The tragedy thus brought one of the biggest annual events in Britain's Christian music scene to an end on the very first day of the programme. For Robert Guanco's family and his church community, the consequences are irreparable, while the injured and witnesses are still recovering from the event. Organisers, local authorities and safety bodies now face a detailed analysis of what happened at the Wiston Estate. Only the results of that investigation will show whether this was an unforeseeable combination of circumstances or a risk that could have been identified and controlled earlier. Until then, official institutions are urging caution in drawing conclusions and cooperation from everyone who can help establish the facts.
Sources:
- Sussex Police – first official statement on the death, the time of the emergency response and initial information about the injured (link)
- Sussex Police – subsequent update on five people assessed, four people hospitalised, the investigation and the appeal for witnesses as part of Operation Igloo (link)
- Big Church Festival – official information about the cancellation of the festival, visitors' departure and the status of the 2026 event (link)
- Big Church Festival – official page stating that tickets for the 2026 edition had sold out (link)
- Big Church Festival – official information about the programme, location and activities of the 2026 edition (link)
- ITV News Meridian – the identity of Robert Guanco, his role in the church community and reactions following the tragedy (link)
- Sky News – additional information about Robert Guanco and the reaction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally (link)
- NME – information about the sold-out festival, approximately 40,000 expected visitors and the 2026 programme (link)
- Health and Safety Executive – official guidance on managing safety at events (link)
- Health and Safety Executive – guidance on site design, temporary structures, ground conditions and the impact of weather conditions (link)
- Health and Safety Executive – clarification of the responsibilities of the HSE and local authorities in enforcing event safety regulations (link)