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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 8 May unless a Monday or Sunday then Saturday before. | ||
| 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 | |
| Mousehole | Continuously celebrated before World War II and revived in the 1950s | 23 December | ||
| East Cornwall | Second clear Thursday before Christmas | |||
| 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 † | Still celebrated | First Sunday and Monday in November | ||
| West Cornwall | Revived since 2001 in St Ives and since 2008 in Penzance | 1 May | ||
| Throughout Cornwall | Still practised in some places including the Montol Festival in Penzance | Christmas through to Twelfth Night and Plough Monday | ||
| Paul Feast † | Continuously celebrated | Sunday nearest 10 October and week following | ||
| Sennen Feast † | 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 1950s, "carolling" was the custom) | |
| Knill Ceremony | 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 † | Still celebrated | End of June | ||
| St Buryan Feast † | St Buryan | Still celebrated | Sunday nearest 13 May | |
| Mevagissey Feast † | Mevagissey | 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 | |
| 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 † | 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 | 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† | Still celebrated | Mid-January | ||
| Davidstow Feast† | Still celebrated | 1 March | ||
| Gunwalloe Feast† | Still celebrated | 3 March | ||
| Porthleven Feast† | Still celebrated | 22 February | ||
| St Kew Feast† | Still celebrated | 8 February |