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The cultural calendar of Cornwall is punctuated by numerous historic and community festivals and celebrations. In particular there are strong links between parishes and their patronal feast days (which are often days not directly linked to official church patronal celebrations). There is also a tradition of holding celebrations associated with tin mining and fishing.
Since the 1980s there has been a development of community based festivals in Cornwall often named after a famous local resident. These have included Murdoch day in Redruth, the Daphne du Maurier Festival in Fowey, Trevithick Day in Camborne and the Montol Festival in Penzance. Other modern festivals include, Falmouth oyster festival, Newlyn fish festival, Lowender Peran in Perranporth, Dehwelans Kernow and many more.
In Moonta, South Australia, the Kernewek Lowender (Cornish for "Cornish happiness") is the largest Cornish festival in the world and attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year. [1]
The following list is of festivals celebrated past and present in Cornwall which can be traced back over 100 years or more; often these celebrations have considerable antiquity. These have been classified separately to the above because they form a part of a Cornish indigenous culture. There have been attempts and successes to revive these celebrations where they have fallen into disuse. Today many of these ceremonies are kept alive by members of the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies.
† = Parish feast day
| Name | Location | Current Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allantide | Throughout Cornwall | Celebrated in some parts of West Cornwall - Largely replaced by Halloween | 31 October |
| Corpus Christi † | Penzance | A big local fair lasting several days, but now lapsed (possibly due to land-lease issues). | C-C is actually 1st Sunday after Whitsun, but Fair was held 2nd/3rd week in June |
| Golowan † | Throughout Cornwall in particular Penzance | Revived in various forms 1920s, 1935, 1990 | Around 23 June |
| Midsummer Hilltop Bonfires | Throughout Cornwall in particular Kit Hill, Carn Brea, Castle An Dinas | Revived in various forms from 1930 | 23 June |
| Flora or Furry † | Helston | Continuously celebrated with a short break in the Victorian era | 8 May unless a Monday or Sunday then Saturday before. |
| 'Obby 'Oss festival | Padstow | Still celebrated | Around 1 May |
| St Piran's Day † | Throughout Cornwall | Originally a miners' holiday now Cornwall's national day | 5 March. The largest festival across Cornwall is still celebrated in Redruth, the Capital (and beating heart) of Cornish Mining. |
| Nickanan Night also called Peasen Monday | Throughout Cornwall | Unknown - not publicly celebrated | Shrove Monday |
| Tom Bawcock's Eve | Mousehole | Continuously celebrated before World War II and revived in the 1950s | 23 December |
| Picrous Day | East Cornwall | Still celebrated in Luxulyan | Second clear Thursday before Christmas |
| Chewidden Thursday | West Cornwall | Unknown - Not publicly celebrated | First clear Thursday before Christmas |
| Madron Feast † | Madron, Heamoor & formerly Penzance | Still celebrated | Advent Sunday and Monday |
| St Just Feast † | St Just in Penwith | Still celebrated | First Sunday and Monday in November |
| West Cornwall May Day celebrations | West Cornwall | Revived since 2001 in St Ives and since 2008 in Penzance | 1 May |
| Guise dancing | Throughout Cornwall | Still practised in some places including the Montol Festival in Penzance | Christmas through to Twelfth Night and Plough Monday |
| Paul Feast † | Paul, Mousehole and Newlyn | Continuously celebrated | Sunday nearest 10 October and week following |
| Sennen Feast † | Sennen | Still celebrated | Advent Sunday |
| Crying The Neck and Guldize | Throughout Cornwall | Still celebrated | September |
| Bodmin Wassail | Bodmin | 'Wassail' is not of Cornish origin, probably migrated as a 'custom' from Wessex as it is of Saxon/Norse origin, but obviously adopted as a way to hedge bets for a good cider-apple harvest, and still celebrated | New Twelfth Night (6 January): In the 1950's, "carolling" was the custom) |
| Knill Ceremony | St Ives | Still celebrated (started 1801) | 25 July (St James Day every 5 years) |
| St Keverne Feast † | St Keverne | Still celebrated | Sunday nearest 18 November |
| St Breward Feast † | St Breward | Still celebrated | Sunday nearest 22 February |
| St Day Feast † | St Day, Carharrack | Still celebrated | End of June |
| St Buryan Feast † | St Buryan | Still celebrated | Sunday nearest 13 May |
| Mevagissey Feast † | Mevagissey | Still Celebrated - Related to Golowan | Around 29 June (St Peters Day) |
| Towednack Cuckoo Feast † | Towednack | Still celebrated | Around 28 April |
| Goldsithney Charter Fair | Goldsithney | Still celebrated | St James Day (Old Style) 5 August |
| Zennor Feast † | Zennor | Still celebrated | Sunday nearest 6 May |
| Porthleven Petertide celebrations † | Porthleven | Still celebrated; Related to Golowan | Near 29 June |
| Gulval Feast † | Gulval | Still celebrated | Near 6 June |
| St Ives Feast (Feast Monday) † | St Ives | Still celebrated | Sunday and Monday nearest 3 February |
| Hurling the Silver Ball | St Columb Major | Still celebrated | Shrove Tuesday and then again on the Saturday eleven days later |
| Mawgan Feast † | Mawgan-in-Meneage | Still celebrated | Near 8 June |
| Mullion Feast † | Mullion | Still celebrated | Sunday nearest 6 November |
| Camborne Feast † | Camborne | Still celebrated | Near 15 November |
| Sancreed Feast † | Sancreed | Still celebrated (Patronal church service) | Early June |
| St Endellion Feast † | St Endellion | Still celebrated (Patronal church service) | Sunday nearest May Bank Holiday |
| St Stythians Feast † | Stithians | Still celebrated; Agricultural show held on the following Monday | Sunday closest to 10 July |
| St Allen Feast † | St Allen | Still celebrated but unknown to what extent | 22 February (Traditionally Rogation Sunday) |
| Bodmin Riding | Bodmin | Still celebrated as part of Bodmin Heritage and Riding festival | Late June or early July |
| Morvah Fair | Morvah / West Cornwall | No longer celebrated but Morvah Pasty Day takes place on the same date, claimed by some to be the largest Lughnasadh celebration outside Ireland | 1 August |
| St Erth Feast † | St Erth | Unknown | 31 October |
| Ludgvan Feast† | Ludgvan | Still celebrated | Monday and Sunday nearest 29 January |
| St Hilary Feast† | St Hilary, Cornwall | Still celebrated | Mid-January |
| Davidstow Feast† | Davidstow | Still celebrated | 1 March |
| Gunwalloe Feast† | Gunwalloe | Still celebrated | 3 March |
| Porthleven Feast† | Porthleven | Still celebrated | 22 February |
| St Kew Feast† | St Kew | Still celebrated | 8 February |
Cornish is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. Along with Welsh and Breton, Cornish is descended from the Common Brittonic language spoken throughout much of Great Britain before the English language came to dominate. For centuries, until it was pushed westwards by English, it was the main language of Cornwall, maintaining close links with its sister language Breton, with which it was mutually intelligible, perhaps even as long as Cornish continued to be spoken as a vernacular. Cornish continued to function as a common community language in parts of Cornwall until the mid 18th century, and there is some evidence for traditional speakers of the language persisting into the 19th century.
Piran or Pyran, died c. 480, was a 5th-century Cornish abbot and saint, possibly of Irish origin. He is the patron saint of tin-miners, and is also generally regarded as the patron saint of Cornwall, although Michael and Petroc also have some claim to this title.
Cornwall is a Celtic nation with a long musical history. Strengthened by a series of 20th century revivals, traditional folk music has a popular following. It is accompanied by traditions of pipers, brass and silver bands, male voice choirs, classical, electronic and popular music.
St Just, also known as St Just in Penwith, is a town and civil parish in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies along the B3306 road which connects St Ives to the A30 road. The parish encompasses the town of St Just and the nearby settlements of Trewellard, Pendeen and Kelynack: it is bounded by the parishes of Morvah to the north-east, Sancreed and Madron to the east, St Buryan and Sennen to the south and by the sea in the west. The parish consists of 7,622 acres (3,085 ha) of land, 12 acres (4.9 ha) of water and 117 acres (47.3 ha) of foreshore. The town of St Just is the most westerly town in mainland Britain and is situated approximately 8 miles (13 km) west of Penzance along the A3071. St Just parish, which includes Pendeen and the surrounding area, has a population of 4,637. An electoral ward of the same name also exists: the population of this ward at the same census was 4,812.
Breage or Breaca is a saint venerated in Cornwall and South West England. According to her late hagiography, she was an Irish nun of the 5th or 6th century who founded a church in Cornwall. The village and civil parish of Breage in Cornwall are named after her, and the local Breage Parish Church is dedicated to her. She is a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Catholic Church.
The culture of Cornwall forms part of the culture of the United Kingdom, but has distinct customs, traditions and peculiarities. Cornwall has many strong local traditions. After many years of decline, Cornish culture has undergone a strong revival, and many groups exist to promote Cornwall's culture and language today.
Golowan is the Cornish language word for the Midsummer celebrations in Cornwall, UK; they were widespread prior to the late 19th century and most popular in the Penwith area and in particular in Penzance. The celebrations began on St John's Eve with bonfires, fireworks, dancing and music, followed by a fair around the town quay on Midsummer Day and were repeated on St Peter's Eve and St Peter's Day.
Allantide, also known as Saint Allan's Day or the Feast of Saint Allan, is a Cornish festival that was traditionally celebrated on the night of 31 October, as well as the following day time, and known elsewhere as Allhallowtide. The festival in Cornwall is the liturgical feast day of St Allan, who was the bishop of Quimper in the sixth century. As such, Allantide is also known as Allan Night and Allan Day. The origins of the name Allantide also probably stem from the same sources as Hollantide and Hallowe'en itself.
The Federation of Old Cornwall Societies (FOCS) was formed in 1924, on the initiative of Robert Morton Nance, with the objective of collecting and maintaining "all those ancient things that make the spirit of Cornwall — its traditions, its old words and ways, and what remains to it of its Celtic language and nationality". The motto of the federation—as written on their web site—is "Cuntelleugh an brewyon ues gesys na vo kellys travyth", which translated into English is "Gather ye the fragments that are left, that nothing be lost". The motto in the OCS logo is the Cornish phrase King Arthur is not dead. The first Old Cornwall Society was established by Robert Morton Nance in St Ives in 1920.
The Kernewek Lowender is a Cornish-themed biennial festival held in the Copper Coast towns of Kadina, Moonta and Wallaroo on Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. 'Kernewek Lowender' means 'Cornish happiness' in the Cornish language. It is held in the late autumn starting on the second Monday of May, in odd-numbered years. The Kernewek Lowender claims to be the world’s largest Cornish Festival outside Cornwall.
The Cornish diaspora consists of Cornish people and their descendants who emigrated from Cornwall, United Kingdom. The diaspora is found within the United Kingdom, and in countries such as the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and the Samoas.
Perranzabuloe is a coastal civil parish and a hamlet in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Perranzabuloe parish is bordered to the west by the Atlantic coast and St Agnes parish, to the north by Cubert parish, to the east by St Newlyn East and St Allen parishes and to the south by Kenwyn parish. The hamlet is situated just over a mile (2 km) south of the principal settlement of the parish, Perranporth; the hamlet is also seven miles (11 km) south-southwest of Newquay. Other settlements in the parish include Perrancoombe, Goonhavern, Mount and Callestick. The parish population was 5,382 in the 2001 census, increasing to 5,486 at the 2011 census.
Cornish dance originates from Cornwall, UK. It has largely been shaped by the Cornish people and the industries they worked in. In most cases, particularly with the step dancing, the dances were still being performed across the region when they were collected.
Guise dancing is a form of community mumming practiced during the twelve days of Christmastide, that is, between Christmas Day and Twelfth Night in West Cornwall, England, UK. Today, guise dancing has been appropriated for feast days at other times of the year.
St Merryn is a civil parish and village in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south of the fishing port of Padstow and 11 miles (18 km) northeast of the coastal resort of Newquay.
Saint Piran's Day, or the Feast of Saint Piran, is the national day of Cornwall, held on 5 March every year. The day is named after one of the patron saints of Cornwall, Saint Piran, who is also the patron saint of tin miners.
Copper Coast is a region of South Australia situated in Northern Yorke Peninsula and comprising the towns of Wallaroo, Kadina, Moonta, Paskeville and Port Hughes. The area approximately bounded by Wallaroo, Kadina and Moonta is also known as the Copper Triangle. The area is so named because copper was mined from there in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a significant source of economic prosperity for South Australia at the time. These three towns are known for their large Cornish ethnicity, often called "Little Cornwall". Kernewek Lowender is the world's largest Cornish Festival, held biennially in the Cornish Triangle. The area continues to make a significant contribution to the economy of South Australia, as a major producer of grain, particularly barley and wheat.
The Montol Festival is an annual festival in Penzance, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, which has been held on 21 December each year since 2007. The festival is a revival or reinterpretation of many of the traditional Cornish midwinter customs & Christmas traditions formerly practiced in and around the Penzance area and common to much of Cornwall at one point. The festival spans several days, but the main events are held on the traditional date of the feast of St Thomas the Apostle, usually 21 December, which always coincides with the winter solstice.
AberFest is a Celtic cultural festival celebrating all things Cornish and Breton that takes place every second year in Cornwall, UK, around Easter. The AberFest Festival alternates with the Breizh – Kernow Festival which is held in Brandivy or Bignan in Brittany, alternating between those two Breton locations.
Cornish cuisine encompasses the cooking styles, traditions and recipes associated with Cornwall and the Cornish people. It has been heavily influenced by the geography of the county as well as its social history.
