{"id":755279,"date":"2026-08-31T05:36:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T05:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/755279\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T05:36:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T05:36:16","slug":"man-killed-by-falling-sign-at-christian-festival-named-as-church-pays-tribute-west-sussex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/755279\/","title":{"rendered":"Man killed by falling sign at Christian festival named as church pays tribute | West Sussex"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 41-year-old man who died after a large wooden sign fell at a Christian festival on Friday<\/a> has been named as Robert Guanco, a pastor at a church in Eastbourne, East Sussex.<\/p>\n

A tribute from his church on Sunday described him as a respected pastor who was a \u201cloving husband\u201d and \u201ca devoted and caring father\u201d.<\/p>\n

Six other people were injured when the overhead sign fell at the Big Church festival (BCF) near Steyning in West Sussex, including four who were taken to hospital.<\/p>\n

Festivalgoers said they rushed to lift the heavy sign, which read \u201cEverything\u2019s Unmissable\u201d, after it was blown over in the wind.<\/p>\n

Jesus Living Water church in Eastbourne named Guanco, describing him as \u201cour beloved brother, friend and pastor\u201d, in a GoFundMe to help his family, who it said faced \u201cunimaginable loss\u201d following his death.<\/p>\n

It said: \u201cPastor Robert was a faithful servant of God, a loving husband to Isay, a devoted and caring father to Ellie, and a blessing to so many people whose lives he touched. His life, his faith, his love and his service to God will never be forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n

It added: \u201cHe was also a good friend, mentor and a blessing to so many people whose lives he touched. His life reflected humility, faith, love, compassion and service. Through his ministry, kindness, prayers and encouragement, he touched many lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis passing is deeply felt by everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Organisers of the Big Church festival said they were \u2018heartbroken\u2019 by Guanco\u2019s death. Photograph: Bigchurchfestival<\/p>\n

Organisers of the BCF, billed as the UK\u2019s biggest Christian festival, said they were \u201cheartbroken\u201d by Guanco\u2019s death and cancelled the rest of the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are devastated by the serious incident that took place at Big Church festival 2026, in which Pastor Robert Guanco tragically lost his life and others were injured,\u201d they said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst and foremost, all of our thoughts are with those who have been affected, their families and friends, and everyone who witnessed what happened. Particularly with the family, friends and church of Pastor Guanco as they process the immense grief of his loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

They added: \u201cWe are working with the police, the Health and Safety Executive and others as they establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.\u201d<\/p>\n

The festival opened on Friday and had been due to run until Sunday. The event, which includes worship, music and various performances, first took place in 2009.<\/p>\n

The archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, said she was \u201csad and shocked\u201d by the incident. \u201cI pray for his family, friends and loved ones as they grieve,\u201d she said. \u201cI pray for those receiving treatment and the healthcare workers looking after them.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I pray too for the other festivalgoers, staff and event organisers as they come to terms with these tragic events.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many people at the festival were first alerted to the tragedy when God TV announced that \u201cdue to unforeseen circumstances\u201d the festival live stream had been paused.<\/p>\n

Sussex police\u2019s Det Ch Supt Richard McDonagh said: \u201cOur thoughts remain with the family and friends of the man who died and all others who have been affected by this tragic incident.\u201d<\/p>\n

He urged anyone among the \u201cthousands of people\u201d at the festival on Friday who had information or video footage to come forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 41-year-old man who died after a large wooden sign fell at a Christian festival on Friday has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":755280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-755279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=755279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/755280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=755279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=755279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=755279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}