More than £30,000 raised for missing poet who disappeared at music festival

02 September 2023 , 12:45

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A body was found in the search for poet Gboyega Odubanjo after he went missing at a festival (Image: Tice Cin/Ferrari Press Agency )

More than £30,000 has been raised after a man went missing at a music festival.

Poet Gboyega Odubanjo was last seen at the Shambala music festival in Kelmarsh, Northamptonshire, at about 4am on Saturday August 26. He was at the event to read some of his poetry the day before he went missing.

He attended the festival with friends and became separated from them in the early hours of Saturday.

Friends and supporters from across the country launched a social media campaign and organised search parties in the area to look for the 27-year-old.

A body was found in the search on Thursday.

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The search effort, led by detectives, involved the use of dogs, police search advisers, neighbourhood and response officers, a dive team and volunteer members of Northamptonshire Search and Rescue.

Mr Odubanjo attended the festival with friends and became separated from them in the early hours of Saturday (Northamptonshire Police)

Mr Odubanjo's family began a fundraiser in his memory which raised £32,331 in less than 24 hours.

The fundraiser, organised by Rose Odubanjo, described him as a "beloved son, brother and friend" whose life was "so suddenly cut short".

The fundraiser page read: "We, the close friends and loved ones of Gboyega, express our profound sadness and grief at the loss of one of our brightest and most talented stars.

"Gboyega was the source of incredible joy and laughter for all of us, and we are utterly heartbroken to hear that his life has been so suddenly cut short."

Poet Gboyega Odubanjo was last seen at the Shambala music festival (Northamptonshire Police)

It added: "Gboyega was inimitable. He will be remembered as a brilliant poet, inspiring friend, son and brother. He was incredibly talented; someone we will remain in awe of."

Mr Odubanjo's family are creating a charity in his name, known as the Gboyega Odubanjo Foundation, with funds raised going towards helping low-income black writers.

Mr Odubanjo, from Bromley in south-east London, was studying for a PhD in creative writing at the University of Hertfordshire. His work has appeared in the Guardian, the Poetry Review and the New Statesman, while his first collection of poems, Adam, is due to be published next summer, his family said.

Gemma Jones