Penzance hosts annual Golowan Festival

From Friday 16 June – Sunday 25th June, the Cornish town of Penzance will come alive with festival style celebrations, as its annual Golowan Festival takes over the town, attracting visitors from around the world.

The festival, which culminates in a spectacular firework display and weekend of parades, performances and markets, marks a centuries old Celtic celebration of the Feast of St John (Golowan).

Traditionally, Golowan was celebrated across the world with the summer solstice welcomed by the lighting of bonfires and the rolling of flaming tar barrels. While these customs began to die out across much of Britain and Europe, Cornish towns and villages continued to mark the occasion in the traditional manner, with Penzance being one of the last towns to lose this tradition in the 1890s (when the perceived fire risk made insurance premiums too expensive).  A local archive project carried out by Alverton Primary School in 1990 encouraged a revival of the festival, and the annual event continues to attract thousands of visitors from across the UK and overseas.

While the burning fires and barrels have been lost from the celebration, Golowan festival today is still a fantastic spectacle; with a series of parades taking over the streets and promenade, a firework display lighting up the sky above the harbour and the appearance of Penglaz, Penzance's 'Obby 'Oss, accompanied by the Golowan Band.

The week-long Golowan celebrations culminate on Mazey Day, which follows the election of a Mock Mayor of the Quay who assists the Mayor in launching the Mazey Day parades. The giant sculptures, music and dance performances that make their way along the main street of Penzance draw a crowd of tens of thousands of people, before the street is transformed into a huge market place- alive with traders selling all manner of goods as well as food from all around the world.

Quay Fair Day, the day after Mazey Day, is a more relaxed affair, still with plenty of free entertainment and a bustling market, this time based around Penzance Harbour.

Throughout the weekend a range of street performers entertain visitors with music, dance and theatre.  In local parks and on the promenade there are children’s activities and events for young people which centre around the skate park on the promenade.

There will also be a series of Community Workshops, offered free by The Exchange and Penlee House Gallery & Museum. Acorn Penzance will be hosting a programme of concerts and performances throughout the week, full details of this year’s events can be found here.

The 2017 Golowan Festival runs from Friday 16 June – Sunday 25 June with Mazey Day and Quay Fair day taking place over the final weekend.