Port Eliot Festival 2009

Friday 24th to Sunday 26th July 2009
Port Eliot Estate, St Germans, Cornwall, PL12 5ND, England MAP
early bird £85 for weekend, £30 for children (4-12yrs)

Last updated: Tue 7th Jul 2009

Port Eliot Festival is held between Friday 24th and Sunday 26th July in the grounds of the Earl of St Germans Cornish estate at Port Eliot in Cornwall.

Set in the very same location as the legendary Elephant Fayre, back in the Seventies and Eighties, the festival started up as the Eliot Lit Fest early in the millennium and, in the six years of its existence, has come to be regarded as one of the most original, magical, Bohemian events of its kind anywhere in the country.

The festival offers a rich diversity of arts and entertainment encompassing music, literature, poetry, comedy, film and art.

Acts confirmed include Evan Dando, British Sea Power, Noah and the Whale, Richard Strange, Murray Lachlan Young, Mik Artistik's Ego Trip, My Window Faces South, The Lani Singers, Dulwich Ukulele Club, Edwyn Collins, Wurlitza, Black Friday, Glorious Chorus, Braga Tanga, One Minute Disco, The Antonius Players, Gaz Mayall, and Louis Eliot, one time frontman of Kinky Machine and Rialto is sure to be in attendance. Plus cabaret and comedy performances from Found In Translation, Simon Munnery, Arthur Smith, Rick Stroud, Ben Moor, Craig Taylor and Cscape Dance company.

Music at the festival will also happen in conjunction with The new Heavenly Records venue on the banks of the estuary, with One Minute Disco dishing up an impromptu disco on the hour, every hour; and the House of Fairytales, set deep in the woodland rhododendron garden.

In the Walled Garden, Barbara Hulanicki of Biba brings your vintage back to life; on the Bowling Green, Edwyn Collins performs a solo set with a reading by his wife, Grace Maxwell; in the Cabaret Tent, Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley DJs a history of teenage pop and Gaz Mayall whips up the rock n' roll dancing to a frenzy; in the Big Kitchen, Hardeep Singh Kholi cooks an Indian takeaway; while in St German's church, Louis de Bernières plays his mandolin.

Other guests already set to participate in this garden party include Cscape Dance Cscape, Marcel Theroux, Susie Boyt, Tahmima Anam, Mike Jay, Will Hodgkinson, Tim Richardson, Mark Crick, Rick Stroud, William Dalrymple, Hanif Kureishi, Arthur Smith, Kamila Shamsie, Simon Munnery, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Justine Picardie, Michael and Emily Eavis, Alain de Botton, Patrick McCabe, Alexander Waugh, Chris Watson, Hadley Freeman, Mohsin Hamid and Gavin Pretor-Pinney. The full line-up is to be announced shortly.

Weekend tickets are available now at the special early bird price (£20 discount) for a limited time only. Weekend early bird tickets are priced at £85 for adults, £30 for children (4yrs to 12yrs inclusive), tickets for children of 3yrs and under are free. There is a family ticket option - £220 for 2 Adults and up to 3 Children. To buy tickets, click here.

Families are especially welcome at the festival and there's a special supervised kids' area featuring magic and puppet shows where youngsters can create their own stories and artwork while, for teenagers, the Mucking About With Words Tent incorporates slam poetry sessions with DJs, dance and much more besides.

Festival-goers can pitch their tents in the stunning grounds of the Port Eliot Estate free included in the entry price or hang out in relative luxury by hiring a beautifully decorated yurt or teepee.

The festival will also offer the opportunity to take in a séance or a massage on the estuary, dance the night away, sample a varied selection of food stalls or perhaps the Saturday night Fish Fry.

More information will be here when available.