CORNISH CULTURE

St Piran’s Day, the national day of Cornwall, is celebrated each year across the county on 5 March. Saint Piran was the patron saint of tin miners. Traditional ways of celebrating included parades and processions, with almost every community marking the day in some way. Bude, Falmouth, Bodmin, Perranporth, Launceston, Penzance, St Ives and Truro are among the bigger parades – check locally where you are if you want to watch one – like Helston’s St Piran’s Lantern Parade, which takes place a couple of days earlier, on 2 March.

Don’t miss the Trelawny Shout, an annual tradition where the county unites in harmony to recite the Cornish national anthem, at 9pm on St Piran’s Day – look out for gatherings in pubs across the county.

As St Piran was the patron saint of tin miners it’s a good time to explore Cornwall’s tin mining past in the new Tolgus Mill interactive exhibition at Cornwall Gold, Redruth, and then try panning for gold yourself. Little ones will enjoy the dress-up section to become a Tin Miller or a Bal Maiden, and be fascinated as the Tolgus Tin Streaming Mill smashes rock into tiny pieces, removing the tin ore from the stone, and then employs a host of inventions to separate the valuable tin.

International Women’s Day, 8 March

As has become Muddy Cornwall’s traditional contribution, look out for our interview series featuring inspirational women in Cornwall – you’ll find them added here.

Women holding glasses of wine at Agweres-Petalon-Evening-JFoxton- Cornwall

Wine tasting (featuring wine by women wine-makers), writing, life drawing and seasonal food are some of the subjects that will be explored at Agweres at Lanteague (6 – 12 March); alongside a sharing circle and Rosie Blake’s headline art show, WOMEN. It’s a not-to-be-missed celebration of women and creativity with 10% of all profits being donated to Cornwall Women’s Refuge Trust.

International Women’s Day Cabaret, The Acorn, Penzance, (9 March) – The legendary charity cabaret marking International Women’s Day takes place live and is their 13th, returning with another jam-packed evening of wicked acts to entertain and delight you while raising money for charities supporting vulnerable women and girls here in Cornwall and globally. Expect a spellbinding programme of music, dance, spoken word, comedy, silly skits, circus and random surprises, all seamlessly introduced by our supernatural sorceress of ceremony, the Two Mystic Marys. They also note that they couldn’t resist linking in with the number 13 – unlucky for some – especially if you happen to be a woman persecuted for being a witch. The witch hunts in Europe may have ended, but they still exist in many countries today, with witch trials (sadly) increasing. So this year they are reclaiming the wise woman, the crone, superstitions, and magical empowerment.

Mother’s Day, 10 March

Here’s your reminder to do something for the women or caregivers in your life… (see our suggestions here for presents), our afternoon tea round-up here and some events on the day too…

Giant bee at Eden Project Cornwall with daffodils and blue sky

Free Entry for Mums and Grans at the Eden Project, Bodelva – bring your mum or gran on Mother’s Day (10 March). You can take them on a spectacular floral tour of the world through the gardens indoors and out.

Heligan have a special roast lunch offer for Mothering Sunday – booking essential – then walk the beautiful gardens.

For Mother’s Day get a free drink at Cornwall Gold for mum when ordering food, this can be a freshly brewed coffee or a glass of Prosecco (8 – 10 March) book online.

OTHER EVENTS IN MARCH IN CORNWALL

On 3 March Harbour House‘s pub quiz returns, starts 7.30pm, £5 entry. The theme is cinema.

WELLBEING AND OUTSIDE

Just over the border from Bude, the annual Spring Flower Show, RHS Rosemoor, Torrington (9-10 March) is full of floral beauty.

Saints and Smugglers Challenge (9 March plus 27 April, 8 June, 7 Sept) are four unique self-navigation stages on four different dates culminating in the legendary 100mile Saints & Smugglers Challenge. All four events are supported, self-navigation exercises with manned checkpoints with fluid and sustenance along the route. All runners will receive a Saints & Smugglers stage medal, those completing the entire challenge will receive a unique 100 Mile challenge medal!

Daffodil Weekend, Trelissick, Feock, (15-17 March), sees an array of daffodils are showcased from some of Cornwall’s finest breeders and growers in Trelissick’s annual Daffodil weekend. Admission charges apply, free to National Trust members.

Falmouth Half Marathon (17 March) is arranged and managed by Cornwall Hospice Care in collaboration with the Falmouth Road Runners.

ART IN CORNWALL

WOMAN; the headlining exhibition by the pioneering womens’ portrait photographer Rosie Blake will be on show on the Mezzanine at Agweres, Lanteague Studios (6 – 12 March). WOMAN is photographic voyage into deeper connection with the self and the body, giving women a glimpse, or perhaps a start into a new chapter of newly realised self worth.

New this month is Kurt Jackson’s The Cornish Seal, which opens down in St Just on 16 March (until 10 August). A normal, almost everyday experience for anyone who spends time on the Cornish coast, seals seem to pop up whenever we look out to sea; are they looking for us? “I decided to spend the last few years dedicating as much time as possible watching, studying and trying to understand them – their form and movement, their haunts and habits and in turn create a body of work inspired by them.” – Kurt Jackson

In Penzance, check out Storm Warning, a collaboration between Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange, and Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea, which seeks to raise awareness of the impact of the climate crisis on coastal communities in Mount’s Bay, and South Essex (until April).

Falmouth Art Gallery is showing Chosen Terrain, featuring new abstract paintings by Cornwall-based artists Neil Canning and Mark Surridge, who have been taking walks together for over 20 years, giving them both a unique platform for sharing their views on art and the changing landscape. Airing their concerns about the environment and climate change, filmmaker Rachael Jones joined their walks and the dialogue and presents her own perspective in a new film commissioned for the exhibition. Rachael has also worked alongside, Splanna, the gallery’s Earth Justice Art Youth Group, on their first film which was created during a recent residency at Loveland (ends 13 April).

Catch The Cornish Paintings of Martina Thomas at Penlee House in Penzance. In celebration of the centenary year of the artist’s birth and to mark her dedication to painting the landscapes, harbours and fishermen of Cornwall, Martina Thomas’s family have chosen a selection of her Cornish artworks and rarely-exhibited examples of her later work (ends 20 April).

Press Photography of Outi Pieski, Tate St Ives, 2024

The UK’s first large-scale exhibition of work by Finland born artist Outi Pieski is over at the Tate St Ives (ends 6 May) and will include figurative landscapes, photographs and prints alongside sculptural works and a new installation created especially during a residency at Porthmeor Studios in January 2024. Pieski is a Sámi visual artist whose practice is deeply connected to land. Working primarily with painting and installation, Pieski has gained recognition for her work which explores the spiritual relationship between humans and their environment and raises vital questions around traditional knowledge and Indigenous people’s rights. The exhibition at Tate St Ives presents Pieski’s figurative landscapes, photographs and prints alongside sculptural works.

MUSIC, COMEDY, FILM, STAGE AND THEATRE

C-Fylm and Screen Cornwall celebrate Cornish film screening Enys Men (1 March) and A Year In a Field (2 March) at Botallack Count House – booking required.

Sprout Spoken presents ‘You are Here’, in four towns with four casts, all culminating in four ‘one-night-only’ outdoor experiences – Penzance (8 March), Par (23 March), Looe (5 April) and then Bude (19 April).

The Lemonaires are a male voice acapella group based in Mylor Bridge. They sing of their homeland, fishing, farming and mining, and are at Harbour House in Flushing on 10 March, free entry.

Matilda fan? There’s a sing-along version at Truro’s Hall for Cornwall on 9 March.

Comedy at the Hall for Cornwall in Truro includes Stewart Lee: Basic Lee, 4 March, and Tom Allen: Completely, 10 March.

Wille and the Bandits have received great critical acclaim, being voted in the top ten must see bands at Glastonbury and they play the atmosphere Carnglaze Caverns on 30 March.

Starting 30 March is the St Endellion Music Festival, runs until 7 April, where the beautiful church is host to an array of choral and orchestral concerts, including an opportunity to join members of the Easter Festival, under the direction of Lucy Goddard, to work on Fauré’s glorious Requiem, a work richly imbued with some of his most beautiful melodies – it’s a rehearsal all day then an informal performance.

EASTER 29 March – 1 April, Easter Sunday 31 March

The state school Easter Holidays in Cornwall start at the end of March, on you’ll be wanting our dedicated guide (28 March and 14 April) but outside of those dates there’s still family fun to be had.

What’s on in Cornwall in March 2024?

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