Pastor Killed by Falling Sign at Big Church Festival: What Happened and What Comes Next
Robert Earl Guanco, a 41-year-old pastor at Jesus Living Water church in Eastbourne, East Sussex, died on Friday 28 August 2026 after a large wooden sign fell on him at the Big Church Festival near Steyning, West Sussex. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Six other people were injured when the overhead sign collapsed, four of whom needed hospital treatment The Guardian.
The sign, which read "Everything's Unmissable," was blown over in the wind. Festivalgoers said they rushed to lift the heavy structure off those trapped beneath it. The incident happened on the opening day of the festival, which had been scheduled to run from Friday through Sunday at Wiston Park, near Steyning in West Sussex Sky News.
Sussex Police were called to the site on Friday after the collapse. Detective Chief Superintendent Richard McDonagh urged anyone with information or video footage to come forward. This is a standard procedural step in a case that will likely involve a detailed reconstruction of how the sign was erected, secured, and ultimately destabilised BBC News.
Big Church Festival organisers said they were "heartbroken" by Guanco's death and cancelled the remainder of the event. They confirmed they are working with police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) — the UK's workplace safety regulator — to establish what happened. When a death occurs at a licensed public event, two investigations typically run in parallel: police assess whether any criminal liability is involved, while the HSE examines whether organisers or contractors breached duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and related regulations covering temporary structures The Guardian.
The Big Church Festival, first held in 2009, is billed as the UK's largest Christian festival. It draws thousands of attendees each year for worship, music, and teaching across multiple stages and venues erected temporarily on the Wiston Park estate.
Jesus Living Water church in Eastbourne identified Guanco as "our beloved brother, friend and pastor" in a GoFundMe campaign launched to support his family. The tribute described him as a "loving husband" to his wife, Isay, and a "devoted and caring father" to his daughter, Ellie Premier Christian News. Tributes were published across UK media on Sunday 30 August The Independent.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, said she was "sad and shocked" by the incident and prayed for those affected. Her public statement places the event within the broader institutional life of the Church of England, of which the festival forms an increasingly prominent part.
The broader context here matters beyond this single tragedy. Large-scale temporary infrastructure — signage, staging, rigging — is a known risk at outdoor festivals, particularly when wind loads interact with structures designed for visual impact rather than structural redundancy (meaning backup support built into a design so that if one part fails, others can bear the load).
The investigation's findings will carry weight well beyond this incident. If the HSE identifies systemic failures in how temporary signage was specified, installed, or inspected at the festival, enforcement notices or prosecutions could follow under existing health and safety legislation. Event organisers across the UK's summer festival circuit will be watching closely, as any adverse findings are likely to prompt industry-wide reviews of temporary structure protocols — particularly wind-loading assessments for freestanding signage that may not receive the same engineering scrutiny as main-stage infrastructure.
