Dates announced for new Porthleven Arts Festival this Autumn

Porthleven in Cornwall will host a new Arts Festival this autumn which will be taking place from Saturday September 25 to Sunday October 3 2021, depending on Covid-19 restrictions.

Held over ten days and coming from ten different local venues, the Porthleven Arts Festival will be an annual celebration of art, from dance and drama to painting and film.

The festival will be both created and curated by Porthleven Arts Community, a new community interest company (CIC), launched in January this year, with the aim of supporting and bringing together local artists, innovators and creatives as well as giving people more opportunities to experience local art.

The festival will be directed by Kelvin Batt, owner of the Mussel Shoals and co-creator of the Masked Ball Festival.

Kelvin said: “Wow, after all this, it’s going to be great to put an arts festival on in Porthleven.

"I know Hannabeth, Alec, Suz and myself are really excited about the prospect and about just how much enthusiasm there is in the community for helping out and joining in."

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Events planned so far include a film festival including a floating screen in the harbour with evening screenings showcasing local films; a mermaid day celebrating sea swimming, mermaid myth, magic and art; a series of literary talks and poetry, performances and events; classical music concerts; celebrations of Porthleven’s heritage, a postcard auction and an en plain air outdoor painting competition.

The festival will also welcome multiple award winning physical theatre & performance group, Prodigal UPG, to the harbour for a high-energy physical theatre and free-running parkour performance.

The festival will be created and curated by Porthleven Arts Community, a new community interest company which launched in January this year.

There will also be a retrospective of Porthleven artist Jim Tinley, featuring his works and telling his story.

Jim worked as an artist out of one of the old shacks alongside Bay View Terrace and with a number of other artists at Breageside Studios and the people and history of Porthleven feature in many of his artworks.

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Porthleven Arts Co-ordinator, Hannabeth Johnson, added: "We have designed the festival to take place in existing venues across Porthleven - there is no need for lots of additional infrastructure or disruption to the village - just plenty of opportunities for participation and experiences around the arts.

"We really hope other venues will get involved and include their own fringe events during the festival too and we’re keen to hear from local businesses who want to organise their own events so we can include them in the programme.

"We hope the community of Porthleven will come together and support this event which should help boost our economy after what has been a really difficult time."