Festivals

Stithians Show is one of the largest and oldest one-day shows in the country, held annually in July with an attendance in excess of 20,000 people each year. Established in 1834, it has been held continuously since then, except for three years during the first world war, and five years during the second. Also, there was no show in 2001 due to the nation-wide outbreak of foot and mouth disease. The show’s main features are: Free parking (except for a small number of ringside parking places), cattle show, horse show (multi-ring), horticultural show, domestic show, dog show, and dog agility competitions. There are also full sections for cage birds, poultry, pigeons, rabbits, goats, sheep, Young Farmers Clubs, Taste of Cornwall marquee, Women's Institute marquee, Community and Churches marquee, and arts and crafts. Other outside attractions include steam engines, vintage vehicles and a fairground. St. Stythians Silver Band plays throughout the day and there are many trade stands and catering outlets. Little is known of the earlier years of the Stithians Agricultural Association that runs the show, but it is generally understood that it began as a challenge between local parishioners over the standards and quality of their produce. Visit the show’s web-site - www.stithiansshow.org.uk.

A hundred years ago Mousehole was a bustling fishing village, the harbour crowded with fishing boats landing locally caught pilchards. Tradition tells of one winter, long ago, when storms had stopped the fishing boats from putting to sea and the villagers were starving. During a lull in the storm on, December 23, Tom Bawcock put to sea and returned with a catch of fish that were then baked into a Stargazy pie. Tom Bawcock’s Eve is still celebrated in the village today and people now travel from miles around to see the spectacular Christmas lights which decorate the village every December.

Camborne Trevithick Day is an annual celebration of the heritage of the area, with the focus on Richard Trevithick, pioneer of high-pressure steam power. This takes the form of a community festival of free entertainment in the main streets of Camborne, which are closed for the day. Camborne Trevithick Day was established in 1983, and has become an important part of the Cornish calendar, attracting some 25,000 to 30,000 visitors. The day involves different dances. There is the Bal Maidens and Miners’ Dance, led by miniature steam engines and Camborne Town Band, and involving an average of eight schools and 240 children dressed in traditional costumes of miners and bal-maidens; and Trevithick's Dance, an adults’ processional dance, led by Camborne Town Band, with dancers dressed in the Cornish colours of gold and black. There are also indoor exhibitions, involving school competition entries, a church flower festival, a display based the life of Trevithick, model exhibitions, static displays of steam vehicles, fair organs, stationary engines, and vintage vehicles, and free street entertainment.

The Polperro Festival runs for nine days around the Summer solstice and takes place at various locations in the beautiful fishing village. This year, the festival celebrated its 10th anniversary.

A voluntary committee founded the festival in 1996 to mark the Solstice and revive an old traditional Midsummer celebration, believed to date back to the 18th century, during which a village drunk or halfwit would be made Lord Mayor for a day.

Nowadays it is more of an honour and one of the local characters plays the role each year. His or her identity is the village’s best-kept secret until the opening day of the festival.

Part of the duties of the day are to visit all the local hostelries with the Merry Men, sample and certificate the ale if it comes up to scratch (no worries there!) and then to 'meet the tide'.

There’s lots of fun for everyone, with live music at the Gig on the Green, drama productions, street theatre, Morris dancing, craft and art exhibitions, workshops, inter-pub tug-of-war, live music in the pubs and much more.

To find out about the festival, visit the Polperro website, www.polperro.org and go the events page.

The world-famous Obby Oss celebration in Padstow is held on the May 1, providing a rousing welcome to summer. The origin of the celebration lies in the mists of antiquity but it is probably one of the oldest survivals in the country, if not in Europe. That is why the Padstow Obby Oss had such an honoured place in the International Folk Dance Festival at the Royal Albert Hall, London, between the two World Wars. There is reason to believe that the ancient British people had a settlement near the harbour mouth at Padstow and that the Obby Oss is a link with them and their times, 4,000 years ago. The custom will never be allowed to die out in Padstow. There are two main parties, Old Oss and Blue Ribbon, with more than one junior Oss. The celebration of the first day of summer starts at midnight with unaccompanied singing around the town. During the day, accordians and drums accompany the respective parties around the town. After the Osses are ‘stabled’ until the following year, the musicians and dancers attend some of the inns, finalising the day at midnight around the maypole. Through the long centuries, of course, the May Day celebrations at Padstow have changed, and around the central figure, the Oss itself, have gathered customs which, in other days, were widely shared. The greenery and the flowers and the maypole are well-known survivals elsewhere, and even the Padstow May Song, which is sung to one of the loveliest of folk tunes, has something in common with the Hal an Tow at Helston on May 8.

The du Maurier festival is a general arts and literature festival, held in memory of Dame Daphne du Maurier, who lived and wrote in the area. Set in Fowey, overlooking the picturesque Fowey Estuary and neighbouring towns, the festival is a mix of star names, guided walks, talks, drama, community events and free entertainment. The combination of professional names and local events makes the festival one of the most popular of its kind in the UK. Neighbouring towns including Par, Tywardreath, Lostwithiel, Polruan and Lanteglos also join in by staging activities of their own. In total, more than 150 events take place and make the du Maurier Festival one of the leading festivals of its kind in the country.

Padstow Carnival Week starts with a Fun Day on the quay, with various events throughout the week finishing with a traditional carnival.

Looe Carnival Week includes a full week of entertainment for all the family including a Veteran and Classic car show, furry dance and parades, children's competitions, a fun run and a grand carnival parade on the evening of Saturday 30th. For further details contact Looe Tourist Information Centre 01503 262072.

One of the biggest weekends around Newquay takes place during the last Bank Holiday in May. Over the past 13 years, Run to the Sun has become a homage to the vehicle most associated with surfing, the Volkswagen camper van. Around 100,000 people head for Newquay to enjoy an eclectic weekend of sun, sea, surf, customised VWs and other vehicles, and music. Run to the Sun has evolved into a huge dance festival and after a day in the surf, a massive party kicks off at Trevelgue Holiday Park in Newquay. Visit the award-winning web-site at www.runtothesun.co.uk.

Helston Flora Day takes place on May 8 every year, unless that date is a Sunday (day of worship) or a Monday (market day). Furry Day (Flora Day) is observed as a holiday in the town. Although there are several theories, no-one really knows where the celebrations all began. Legend has it that a fiery dragon (possibly a large meteorite) appeared over Helston many centuries ago and dropped a large stone on what is now known as the Angel Yard. More than a century ago, this great stone was split up to be used for building; a portion was built into the outside wall of the Angel Hotel in Coinagehall Street. The inhabitants of Helston, after fully expecting the town to be destroyed, celebrated their deliverance by dancing through each others houses. A more modern theory is that the Helston Furry observances are a survival of a pre-Christian Celtic custom transferred, or fixed on, to the patronal feast. St. Michael, to whom the parish church is dedicated, is Helston`s patron saint and May 8 appears in the Church Calendar as the anniversary of the Apparition of St. Michael. It is therefore quite feasible that the pre-Christian Furry was acquired by the early Celtic church and celebrated annually on May 8. What is not disputed is that the Furry has been danced at Helston for centuries. Although it is an occasion of great joy and fun in the town, it is also decorous, refined and elegant.

Golowan was founded as a voluntary organisation in 1990 to revive Penzance's midsummer Feast of John (Gol-Jowan). The success of the first Mazey Day in 1991, with giant imagery, parades, street entertainment and market stalls, under an awning of colourful banners, made in schools and community workshops led to the modern ten-day festival, enjoyed by 60,000 visitors. The popularity of the festival is due to the merging of powerful elements of the past; the Serpent Dance, torchlight processions, Penglaz, the Mock Mayor of the Quay, Quay Fair with new imagery, ritual, music, Sea and Sail, theatre, film and Cornish cultural events. More than 500 local performers take part in the annual festival. Artists' skills and imagination shared with volunteers and schools during the Festival, have inspired year-round community projects bringing colour to unused shop fronts through Shopbright and the creation of three extraordinary Chrismazey Grottoes, transforming empty stores into mazes of animation and magic. The grottoes inspired Round the Bend, a seasonal showcase of automata and mechanical wonders at Golowan's base, the Barbican. Visit the Golowan web-site - www.golowan.com

View all holiday accommodation in Penzance, Mousehole and South Cornwall

RNAS Culdrose is Western Europe's largest military helicopter operating base and is home to many Fleet Air Arm Units operating a variety of aircraft types.

As an airshow venue Culdrose has an advantage over the majority of British airfields by having the crowd line between the sun and runway, thereby avoiding squinting eyes and backlit flying display aircraft.

For full details go to http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/static/pages/8322.html

Cornwall’s three-day county show is the highlight of the agricultural calendar. Founded in Bodmin in 1793 as the Cornwall Agricultural Society, the Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association, as it has been known since 1858 and which organises and runs the show, boasts a long and proud tradition of agricultural promotion and tradition.

The first event, staged in September 1793, consisted of a ploughing match near the Red Lion Inn, Truro. The following year saw prizes for livestock being added to the awards on offer. Although based in the then county town of Bodmin, in North Cornwall, from 1793 to approximately 1827, competitions were often also held in various other parts of the county. From 1827 to 1857 the show had Truro as its home. In 1858 the association turned nomadic, staging the show in the east and west of Cornwall in alternate years. This year also saw the addition of Royal to the association's title.

Apart from breaks during the two world wars, the show was to be staged on the above basis until 1960 when the Royal Cornwall Showground at Wadebridge became its permanent home.

The show is usually staged in the first or second week of June.

Cornwall’s patron saint, St Piran, is the patron saint of tinners from whom the county’s flag takes its name. Over the centuries many pilgrims have visited the site of St Piran's Oratory or Chapel in the towans at Perran Sands. The parishioners of Perranzabuloe have regularly done so all through the year. On the nearest Sunday to his special day, March 5, hundreds of people come from all over Cornwall and beyond come to remember and honour him. The play depicting the legend of St Piran is performed by people from the community of Perranzabuloe on the nearest Sunday to March 5. St Piran’s Tide occurs surrounding the date March 5 and has evolved around St Piran’s Day to provide a week-long event of festivities taking place throughout Cornwall. A highlight of the week are colourful processions with music and dance though Bodmin and Truro on St Piran’s Day itself, and also a re-enactment of St Piran’s arrival in Cornwall on Perran Sands, Perranporth, on the Sunday closest to the 5th of March.