Tom Bawcock's Eve
The night before Christmas Eve, this impossibly pretty Cornish fishing village marks the legend of a man who braved winter storms alone to bring in a catch that saved the whole village from starvation, with lantern processions down harbour lanes and a vast stargazy pie whose fish heads gaze out through the pastry crust.
One of Cornwall's most photogenic fishing villages, punching well above its size with a Michelin-listed hotel-restaurant, a good harbourside pub, multiple cafes, a weekly farmers market and a Christmas lights display that draws crowds from across the country.
Cottages, B&Bs and hotels near Mousehole, Cornwall.
Some stay links are affiliate links. More
Add the free Villagly badge to your own website. It shows visitors you are listed with us and links them straight back to this page.
Get the free badge →Event details come from organisers and can change. Please check with the organiser before you travel.
"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
"On Guy Fawkes Night itself, locals carry flaming tar-soaked barrels through the crowds outside Ottery St Mary's pubs in a fire custom that has been performed annually on this Devon high street for over 400 years."
Ottery St Mary Tar Barrel Rolling
"Locals shoulder flaming barrels of tar and carry them blazing through the seaside town centre in a fiery survival of an old Devon Bonfire Night custom."
Seaton Tar Barrels
✦ Weird and Wonderful"Villagers ring the church bells discordantly to scare off evil then heave a one-tonne boulder over with crowbars to keep the Devil trapped beneath for another year."
Turning the Devil's Stone
✦ Weird and Wonderful"Mummers shrouded head to toe in newspaper strips are led by the Town Crier to perform an ancient sword-fight and resurrection play around the village."
Marshfield Paper Boys Mummers Play
✦ Weird and Wonderful"Lantern-lit crowds gather around the community orchard for an apple-blessing ceremony with Morris dancing, folk song and mulled scrumpy on a cold January night."
Stoke Gabriel Wassail
✦ Weird and Wonderful"By bonfire light a crowd toasts the oldest apple tree, fires guns to scare off evil spirits and pours cider over its roots at the Butchers Arms."
Carhampton Wassail
✦ Weird and Wonderful