Events
OUTSID’ER – St.Agnes Outdoor Festival
5th – 7th April 2013
Celebrate the great outdoors on the coast of St Agnes at the OUTSID’ER festival in April. Get stuck in and discover for yourself why Cornwall’s coastlines are so perfect. With a diverse mix of events lined up, both on land and in the sea, it’s a celebration of the beautiful Cornish landscape and gives everyone a chance to try something new.
St Agnes beacon is a local landmark owned by the National Trust. From the top of the beacon you’ll see fantastic views of the coastline from St Ives in the south to Padstow in the north.
Events lined up for this years entertainment include a raft race, sand sculpting, foraging for wild food, campfire cooking, treasure hunts, sunset photography, crafty beach workshop and fancy dress surfing.
The festival is in its first year and is sponsored by Cornish Mining World Heritage, which ties in nicely with theme of enjoying and protecting the Cornish scenery. There’s something for everyone, with a wide range of entertainment lined up for the weekend event. Build sand sculptures on the beach, forage for wild food on the coast path or spend your day doing a number of active water sports including kayaking around coves.
Porthleven Food & Music Festival
20th April 2013
Bringing in over 12,000 people from all corners of the UK, this one-day festival in the small fishing village of Porthleven is a massive local food celebration. The Porthleven food and music festival is run by a non-profit community organisation who are all talented, committed and enthusiastic volunteers from the local community.
There are over eighty food stalls for you to choose from, which all showcase local Cornish produce. The whole day is backed with live music and a fantastic firework display to see off the festivity. That’s not all, you can also watch food being prepared right in front of you at the Chefs Theatre as Cornwall’s most popular restaurants will be displaying their talent using a theme of healthy food with local ingredients.
The theme for 2013 is ‘Sourced from the sea’ to celebrate Porthleven’s seaside heritage, so you’re sure to find an abundance of fresh lobster and crab on the day.
Trevithick Day
27th April 2013
Watch Camborne town come to life as the streets light up with traditional entertainment to celebrate Cornwall’s former mining industry. The Trevithick’s dance at 2.30pm is not to be missed, with more than 100 adults dressed in the traditional colours of black and gold all dancing in procession behind the Camborne Town Band.
The annual event has been running since 1984 and attracts more than 30,000 visitors for the day. All the main streets are closed off from traffic so that the industrial festival can come alive.
The day is to pay homage to the late Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) whose inventive mind revolutionised mining in Cornwall and round the world. Trevithick was the first person to successfully run a steam-powered engine pulling carriages in Wales. The day also celebrates the heritage of mining and the industrial heritage of the area, showcasing traditional Cornish dancing and a vintage children’s fairground.
You’ll see hundreds of children from local schools dressed as traditional Bal Maidens and Miners and an impressive display of vintage vehicles, model exhibitions and fairground rides. There’s even a steam parade from Basset Road at 3.15pm.
St Agnes Bolster Festival
3rd – 5th May 2013
Every May bank holiday weekend, St Agnes and Porth beach tell the tale of the Giant Bolster at the annual Bolster festival. This Cornish legend tells a tale of a local giant Bolster who, after terrifying the locals and eating their children, is finally put in his place by a fair village maiden.
The historic event shows a celebration of Cornish music and art featuring life-size puppets, a drum band and a 28ft giant effigy re-enacting the famous Cornish legend. You can even get fully involved by getting dressed up in the traditional fashion.
To celebrate the Bolster’s eventual demise, St Agnes holds a pageant every year starting with a lantern procession that leads to the beacon, where a bonfire is lit to clay houses, which local children have made. All of this is topped off with a hearty barbecue.
The following day the pageant kicks off when the Mayor and others parade around the village encouraging support for their cause in defeating the giant. Following them is a drum band and life-sized puppets who set the scene for the festivities that take place at 4.30 from the cliffs above the stunning Chapel Porth Beach.
Fal River Festival
24 May – 2nd June 2013
The festival was established in 2006 and embraces the places, people, history, culture and industry connected to this very Cornish river. With its diverse mix of events taking place at dozens of locations around the water, the festival gives a real chance to engage with life on the river and discover some of its fascinating history.
Events lined up for this year include the Fal River Walk, Castle to Castle Swim, Fal Fish Festival, the award-winning Film on the Fal and the opening Beer Fleet Parade.
The ten day festival is a not-for-profit community festival which encompasses over 150 events ranging from music and drama, arts and heritage to gig racing, swimming and wildlife walks. Throughout the festival you’ll find a range of diverse entertainment, including jazz bands playing on the harbour in St Mawes, film screenings on ferries moored offshore and, of course, plenty of seafood to sample.
All the action takes place in Falmouth, Truro and around the Roseland Peninsular and thousands of people flock to the area where there are simply loads of events to take part in. Pick up tips from celebrity chefs demonstrating seafood recipes, watch a street theatre performance, listen to a traditional male voice choir, dance the night away to Celtic music or you could even take part in the Castle to Castle swim across the Fal Estuary.
Fal Fish Festival
25th — 27th May 2013
Fal Fish Festival has now been running for four years and celebrates the best of Cornwall’s marine harvest. This event is also run alongside the Fal River Festival.
Rick Stein and Greenbank sponsor the festival and the event is held to raise money for The Royal National Mission To Deep Sea Fishermen. Held in Events Square in Falmouth, surrounded by restaurants and the Maritime Museum, the festival offers a wealth of cooking demonstrations from top local chefs, a diverse fresh seafood market and live music for all the family to enjoy.
This year, for the first time, the festival will run for three days from Saturday, 25th May to Monday, 27th May. This is a must-do at the Fal River Fest, even if its just simply to enjoy a fish taco with a beautiful view of the Falmouth Marina.
Flushing Arts Week
25th May – 1st June 2013
The Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival & Falmouth Classics
14th June – 16th June 2013
Falmouth Classics will be taking place at the same time as the Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival in 2013.
Falmouth Classics regatta is to get bigger and better than ever as the traditional one-day race becomes three days of dedicated classic boat racing with a new link to the Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival that promises timeless entertainment on and off the water.
For more than 20 years, Falmouth Classics has been a single race taking place on the first day of the more general Falmouth Week regatta in August. While it provided racing for up to 150 boats from the local area, Falmouth Classics was considered to have never reached its potential in attracting boats from farther afield.
Now a group of volunteer sailing enthusiasts has banded together to take the festival to another level by scaling it up by 300 per cent and running it in conjunction with the Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival which has been steadily growing in popularity.
The new-look Falmouth Classics takes place on June 14 to 16, 2013 with crews being welcomed into the port on the Thursday evening for racing on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Alongside the racing will be the sounds of salty song in the form of maritime music and shanties from various groups performing in venues around the port, on and off the water.
Flushing Regatta
20th July – 27th July 2013
This long established sailing Regatta is the opening event this year of over a week of activities both on and off the water culminating in the famous Flushing Carnival. The sailing Regatta is based at Flushing Sailing Club with home-made teas to tempt competitiors.
There are events for all members of the family with lots of activities for children. Many holidaymakers make sure that they are here for this very special week so come and join us!
Events held during the week including The Aberfal Oggie Men, bath tub racing, street markets, dog shows, snail racing, sandcastle competitions and trawler racing.
Sailing instructions will be available at all local sailing clubs. The full events programme can be bought nearer the time at the village store in Flushing.
The week culminates in a carnival style procession that dances it’s way thought the streets and a party.
Henri Lloyd Falmouth Week 2013
11th August – 18th August 2013
Henri Lloyd Falmouth Week has developed into the largest regatta in the South West, rivalled only by Cowes Week. It provides a racing schedule to challenge the most competitive sailors, yet retains a ‘fun and friendly’ feel which also attracts families and the less experienced.
Henri Lloyd Falmouth Week, six days of competitive racing for keelboats, traditional craft and dinghies in the waters of Falmouth Bay, the Carrick Roads and the Harbour, with a Champagne Day on Wednesday. Activity on the water is matched by a lively Shoreside programme of daytime and evening entertainment, culminating in a magnificent firework display over the Harbour. With a Grand Prize Giving party in the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club at the end of the Week.
The regatta starts with Falmouth Classics, over 100 classic yachts racing in the Carrick Roads and Falmouth Bay. It is followed by six days of handicap/fleet racing for keelboats, traditional craft and dinghies in the waters of Falmouth Bay, the Carrick Roads and the harbour. Wednesday is Champagne Day, with the Champagne Race race for IRC and PY 1&2 yachts and MOCRA multihulls with a long coastal course, whilst smaller boats race in the Carrick Roads. All class winners received a champagne prize and special prizes for dinghies.
The best vantage points for viewing the sailing are: Pendennis and St Mawes Castles, St Anthony Head, Castle Drive and Pendennis Point, Trefusis Point and Flushing. To view the dinghys, walk from Mylor Yacht Harbour towards Restronguet Sailing Club.
Mining and Pasty Festival
6th – 7th September 2013
Fill yourself with Cornwall’s finest Cornish pasties in Redruth on the 7th of September. The rest of the weekend is dedicated to paying tribute to the mining industry.
Join in the celebration of the food that is most associated with Cornwall and enjoy a whole market with a wide range of different Cornish pasty types and ingredients. The Cornish pasty became so popular because of its association with the mining industry. Miners adopted it in the 18th Century due to its unique shape, meaning that they could have a complete meal without having to use cutlery. Amazingly the dense, warm pastry could stay warm for several hours in a mine. Pasties are traditionally filled with beef, potato, swede and onion but in Redruth you’ll find a variety of flavours including banana and chocolate!
Take your pasty with you to Fairfield Park in Redruth and enjoy the mass picnic accompanied by a refreshing beer and live entertainment from Redruth Radio. You can even get stuck in and make your own pasty, with professional pasty makers on hand to show how real Cornish pasties are made.
SPLASH Falmouth
13th – 22nd September 2013
Splash is Falmouth’s newest festival, which sees a week of celebration of creativity in Falmouth.
Falmouth is one of the leading creative and design hubs of the South West, boasting many of the county’s leading design and image agencies. The town is also full of creative students from the award-winning Falmouth University.
The town plays host to many artists and writers including famous and award-winning writer Michael Morpurgo. The week is filled with creative events and talks from artists for you to enjoy. After last year’s incredible performance from the Scary Little Girls they will be back this year for a live heritage walk, which is an artistic take on the history of Falmouth.
For book lovers there’s a book festival held as part of Splash which brings you talks from authors and advice on how to get a book published. The week also brings live music, an art exhibition and ‘The Big Draw’, which promises to transform the centre of Falmouth into an outdoor art space and exhibition.
Falmouth Oyster Festival
Each year, a cookery master-class from a celebrity chef, followed by a book signing opens the festival. Packed with cookery demonstrations by leading local chefs, oysters, seafood, wine and local ale, children’s shell painting, sea shanties, a town parade, and live music, an oyster shucking competition, a Falmouth Working Boat race and marquees brimming with Cornish produce; the festival is a must for all oyster, seafood and maritime heritage enthusiasts!
Falmouth Oyster Festival has seen an increasing number of Cornish food and drink producers promoting their quality produce alongside the longstanding craft fair stalls in the festival marquee. Festival visitors can savour the expanding range of mouth watering Cornish food and drink, both on site whilst taking in the festival atmosphere or to take home and enjoy!
Fireworks at Falmouth Cricket Club
5th November 2013
The biggest firework display in Cornwall is held at Falmouth Cricket Club every year. Last year saw around £6,500 worth of fireworks set to music and this year looks set to be even bigger.
The event is organised by Falmouth Firefighters and sees thousands of people coming from the South West to watch the night sky light up. Its not just fireworks – there are food and drink stalls as well as fire-eaters and fairground rides to enjoy.
Truro City of Lights
13th November 2013
Watch a dazzling procession of paper lanterns through the streets of Truro, all handmade and carried by professional artists, school children and groups from the local community.
The City of Lights is a creative celebration incorporating art, music, dance and light. The spectacular parade marks the city’s Christmas lights being turned on.
Each year brings a different theme; last year saw kings and queens and the year before saw giant glowing mammals. The theme and lanterns are kept under wraps until the big day, which makes the event even more exciting.