What’s it all about?
Mousehole’s biennial Sea Salts and Sail Festival revives old traditions and celebrates the heritage of West Cornwall's most famous fishing village, providing a day out for all the family.
What happens?
The Festival includes traditional maritime craft displays, sea-food cookery demonstrations, heritage walks, tin smelting, historic maritime photo exhibitions and traditional Cornish music. The highlight of the festival (weather permitting) is that on both Saturday and Sunday traditional fishing vessels sail around the bay, unfurling their colourful sails, bringing a poetic insight into what the bay looked like a century ago when all fishing boats relied on the power of the wind to get them out to their fishing grounds.
How can you take part?
This festival really does highlight some fascinating aspects of Cornish heritage and visitors get an insight into many local crafts and traditions. Local chefs from the popular restaurants in Mousehole show off their skills cooking various fish dishes, there are demonstrations in the art of making crab pots in the old traditional way with willow and an evocative exhibition of photographs and memorabilia of Mousehole from 1800’s to present day are on display at the Sunday School. And after you’ve watched the woodturning and kipper smoking get your feet into walking mode by taking a guided tour around the historic village. During the festival live music including male voice choirs, folk bands and sea shanties adds the authentic soundtrack.
Did you know?
It’s believed that Mousehole was the inspiration for Dylan Thomas’s play Under Milk Wood. The author spent his honeymoon in the village in 1938.
Info:
Location: Mousehole, Penzance