Padstow Obby Oss
One of Britain's oldest and most exuberant calendar customs, in which two rival hobby horses and their retinues dance through Padstow's harbour streets from midnight to midnight on May Day, drawing tens of thousands of spectators and Cornish exiles home from across the world.
Padstow punches far above its size as a foodie destination: a Michelin-starred restaurant, a Bib Gourmand, an award-winning brewery taproom, iconic harbour bakeries and a ferociously alive annual calendar make it one of the most rewarding small towns in Cornwall, though its heavy tourist footprint in summer means it is more showpiece than community village.
Cottages, B&Bs and hotels near Padstow, Cornwall.
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"A cliff-top open-air theatre carved from Cornish granite above Porthcurno Bay, where productions from Shakespeare to musicals run each summer with the Atlantic as backdrop and Rowena Cade's extraordinary creation as the stage."
Minack Theatre Season
"A heritage steam and vintage rally held across a beautiful private country estate near Liskeard, celebrating working engines and rural craft."
Boconnoc Steam Fair
"A week-long seaside carnival in the fishing town of Looe, with a traditional Furry Dance, live music, and the Polperro Fisherman's Choir."
Looe Carnival Week
"Singers and players gather from across the world to perform opera and a new chamber version of Britten's War Requiem inside a tiny medieval collegiate church a mile from the wild North Cornwall coast."
St Endellion Summer Festival
"A classic Cornish market-town carnival parade held each summer in the medieval stannary capital of Lostwithiel."
Lostwithiel Carnival
"A beloved carnival night in one of Cornwall's most picturesque fishing villages, with a harbour-lit procession drawing crowds from across the peninsula."
Mousehole Carnival
"A week of folk music, dance and song fills this Regency seaside town and its clifftop arena."
Sidmouth Folk Festival
"The home of Dartmoor step dance and broom dance competitions, with ferret racing, two village pubs full of music and the late Bob Cann's broad Devon welcome."
Dartmoor Folk Festival
"A working farm field below the silhouette of Corfe Castle. Five stages, four days, and the particular quiet of the Dorset hills when the music stops between sets."
Purbeck Valley Folk Festival
"The Levellers' fiercely independent family festival runs six stages with no sponsorship, a Magic Teapot, folk sessions and a different fancy-dress theme every Sunday."
Beautiful Days
"Free live folk, shanty singing and ceilidh dancing tumble along the seafront of a Jurassic Coast town, anchored by headline concerts at the Marine Theatre."
Lyme Folk Weekend
"A week of music, dance and song for adults of all abilities at England's national centre for folk arts, tucked into a manor in the Quantock Hills."
Halsway Folk Summer School