ST PIRAN’S DAY (GOOL PERRAN LOWAN) CELEBRATION
Thursday 5th March 2026
Perranarworthal’s first St Piran’s Day Festival
Cornish flags and bunting will be flying all week from Sunday 1st March; if you have any of your own stashed away, please get them out and help make our village a joy to behold. This is not just a Cornish saint’s festival, it’s a community venture for all of us, and we hope it will become an annual event. There will be a ‘donation’ of £6 (cash or card accepted) for the evening‘s entertainment, and this will include a pasty. Tea, coffee, squash and saffron buns will be available, and you can bring your own bottles. All proceeds will go towards the New Village Hall Redevelopment Fund. Below is our Festival Programme (all timings are very approximate). Feel free to drop in, or out, at any point during the proceedings.
3.20 The festival will begin with a muster in front of the school when our piper will arrive to start the celebrations.
3.30 The Piper will lead a group of school children in a procession down to the Village Hall where, around 3.45 they will entertain us with singing and dancing. Afterwards, they will enjoy a well-earned saffron bun at a traditional tea treat.
Paul will have his bookstall in the village hall. Books for sale include his own and "Just Watching" by the students from the school.
4.30 Entries for the pasty competition should be submitted. They could be beef, cheese and onion, or vegetable. You don’t have to be Cornish to enter - go on, have a go!
5.00 St Piran’s flag will be run up the flagpole outside the village hall by our County Councillor, Ruth Gripper, to accompaniment from our piper.
5.00 St Pirans Hand Bell Ringers. Demonstration, plus a chance to have a go yourself.
5.15 We will begin serving the hot pasties in the hall. A slide show and an exhibition about the parish and it’s history will be set up by the Perranarworthal Local History Group to keep you entertained you while you enjoy your supper, and the winners of the pasty competition will be announced.
6.00 Perranwell Community Choir will then sing some Cornish songs.
6.30 The Cornish quiz; this will reveal how much, or how little, you know about your parish and Cornwall in general. Don’t forget to bring a pen or pencil!
7.00 The Devil’s Hat Band will play us out with their particular brand of musical mayhem.
8.00 Procession from the Village Hall down to the Royal Oak where the music and merriment will continue.
9.00 The Trelawney Shout in the Royal Oak. We will join the rest of Cornwall in a rendition of the unofficial Cornish anthem 'Trelawny' to celebrate community, heritage, and the joys of being in Cornwall. Let’s sing our hearts out, knowing that down the road, across the moor or even in some distant lands, this celebration of community will be echoed.