Cheshire Police make 118 arrests at Creamfields

Cheshire Police have confirmed 118 people were arrested at this year's Creamfields dance music festival.

The force says the majority of arrests were drug related with a total of 164 crimes reported.

More than 70,000 people attended the four day dance music event over the August Bank Holiday weekend on the Daresbury estate.

Calvin Harris, David Guetta, Swedish House Mafia, Tiësto, Becky Hill, Carl Cox Hybrid Live, Eric Prydz, and Fatboy Slim were just a few of the hundreds of acts on over the four days.

Cheshire Police worked closely with the organisers as they do every year, and a host of other agencies, to make it as safe as possible, and limit any adverse impact on the local community.

There were drugs dogs at entrances and opportunities for illegal substances and weapons to be placed in surrender bins, along with an extensive search process by security personnel at entrances to the site.

The 118 arrests this year are down from the 164 last year, and drug offences were also down, with 99 compared to 135 last year.

What is Creamfields?

Creamfields is a dance music festival series founded and organised by club promoter Cream.

It was first held in 1998 in Winchester, but moved to Cream's home city of Liverpool the following year, taking place on the old Liverpool airport, before moving to its current location on the Daresbury estate in Cheshire.

The festival, having initially begun as a one-day event with 25,000 people in attendance, is now a four-day event with camping options hosting 70,000 per day.

It is the UK's most prestigious electronic dance music festival.

Superintendent Sarah Heath, who led the policing operation for Creamfields 2023, said:

"Almost 70,000 people attend this year’s event and I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the vast majority of festival-goers for their cooperation and their behaviour and for all the agencies that worked together so well throughout.

"We recognise that large events can have an increased prevalence of drugs and by working with other agencies in the run-up and during the weekend we have sought to address this.

"There were drugs dogs at entrances and opportunities for illegal substances and weapons to be placed in surrender bins along with an extensive search process by security personnel at entrances to the site.

"A conscious effort was also made to target those who were intent on supplying illegal substances at the event – which accounted for more than half of the arrests made – while we made use of other options available to us, such as community resolutions, for lower level offences.

"In addition, this year we had an increased presence with officers from Project Servator in attendance. This team’s aim was to deter and detect a range of criminal activity while providing a reassuring presence for the public.”