Creamfields: Officers recover large quantities of drugs in first pre-festival search

Ahead of Creamfields this Bank Holiday Weekend, officers have recovered a large quantity of drugs buried in the festival’s grounds.

Creamfields 2026 is taking place in Daresbury over the August Bank Holiday Weekend, and Cheshire Constabulary is once again working alongside organisers to ensure that everyone attending stays safe.

Up to 80,000 music fans are expected at the annual event, which returns to the area from Thursday 27 to Monday 31 August. 

During the festival, officers will be supporting Creamfields event and security staff and providing a visible presence to prevent incidents of crime and disorder from occurring. 

As part of the pre-event disruption work, a number of searches of the site area are carried out by specialist officers. These searches will continue in the run up to the event, as part of the police’s commitment to making it as safe as possible for visitors. 

The first week of pre-event searches of the grounds concluded with officers uncovering a sizeable quantity of class A, B and C drugs that had been hidden and buried at the festival site.

This find included approximately 204 cannisters of nitrous oxide, as well as large bags containing ecstasy, MDMA and ketamine tablets being recovered.

Superintendent Andy Blizard, who is overseeing the Creamfields policing operation, said:

“Every year we remind those attending Creamfields that there is a zero-tolerance policy regarding drugs and, every year, we counter a number of brazen individuals who think they can outstart us by concealing drugs from view or burying them at the site months in advance.

“Our specialist search teams have spent a considerable amount of time combing the grounds of the Creamfields site ahead of festival’s opening later this week.

“We fully expect to find further quantities as our searches continues, leaving many of those who chose to bury these items very much disappointed to find them no longer where left them when they arrive at the festival do dig them back up

“Anyone who has buried a rucksack or hold-all bag at the site and would like it back is asked to get in contact with us - officers have already begun conducting enquiries to identify their owners and look forward to speaking to them soon.”