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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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, 25^th May to Monday, 27^th 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.

25th May – 1st 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.

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 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.