Port Eliot Festival 2014

After a year off in 2013, Port Eliot Festival returns and is held between Thursday 24th and Sunday 27th July 2014 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 seven years of its existence, it 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.

Line-up

Public Service Broadcasting will headline the Friday, plus Gruff Rhys, Jimi Goodwin (Doves), Andrew Weatherall, Don Letts, Ben Watt, Viv Albertine , John Andrews, Will Atkins, Patrick Barkham, Richard Benson, Tim Dee, Kurt Jackson, Matthew & Me, Ceri Levy, Jeb Loy Nichols, The Rails (Kami Thompson, & James Walbourne), Charles Rangeley-Wilson, Chris Watson, Pete Fowler, Matt Sewell, Michael Smith and Andrew Weatherall present Unreal City, Rob St John, Cheryl Tipp (British Library), Geoff Travis, Roy Wilkinson’s Music & Nature Quiz, Love L.U.V., Emma Warren, Melissa Harrison, Neil Sentance, Malcolm Anderson, Trevor Cox, Mathew Clayton, Lux Harmonium, and The R.G. Morrison.

Latest additions Robin Ince, Miles Jupp, Shazia Mirza, Tony Law, and Sam Amidon.

Caught by the River return with Antidote Hour, Devon Folkore Tapes, Ted Kessler presents – My Old Man, Stephen Parker, Heavenly Jukebox (DJ set), and on Thursday live music and DJs curated by Totnes' Drift Record Shop.

Also confirmed to appear at Port Eliot are comedians Sean Hughes, John Shuttleworth, Shami Chakrabarti, Martin Parr, Tom Parker Bowles, The James Hunter Six, Neil Sentence, Romesh Ranganathan, and Count Arthur Strong, plus foodies including Skye Gyngell, Rose Prince, Tom Parker Bowles, The Ethicureans, Sam and Sam Clarke (Moro), Russell Norman & Luke Bishop (Polpo), Nathan Outlaw, Hemsley + Hemsley, Chris Sherville, Mark Diacono Richard Bertinet, Daniel de la Falasie, Benjamin Ranyard, Kay Bolitho, Jonathon Jones, and Murphy Williams.

The guests with The Idler include Tim Lott, Alan Watts, Clare Pollard , Matthew Green, David Bramwell, Lucy Cooke, Will Hodgkinson, Michael Tyack, Martin Robinson, Andy Wright , Oliver Broadbent, Ben Moor, Mark Vernon, Sandy Burnett Julian Mash, Tom Hodgkinson, and Chris Lintott.

Port Eliot’s Walled Garden will become The Wardrobe Department, packed to the corners with designers and stylists, each handpicked by Sarah Mower, the Ambassador for Emerging Talent at the British Fashion Council.

Literary names include: history and travel writer William Dalrymple, Hanif Kureishi (The Buddha of Suburbia/The Black Album), Andy Miller(Read Y'Self Fitter) and Raffaella Barker who will be discussing her latest novel.

Full details to be announced soon.

Tickets

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The early bird offer has ended. Weekend tickets are priced at £165 for adults, £70 for children (aged 8-15 years inclusive), tickets for children and under 8 years old are free. A Friday day ticket for adults is priced at £40, a Saturday ticket is priced at £60, and Sunday is priced at £50. Child tickets are priced at £25, £35, and £30 respectively. Campervan tickets are priced at £50 per pitch. Booking fees must be added. Weekend tickets can also be secured with a £82.50 deposit.

Early entry Thursday

It is expected that once again full weekend ticket holders will be able to arrive from 12 midday on Thursday, giving those festival-goers the chance to discover the most beautiful camping spots, explore the enchanting setting and take in special entertainment laid on in the festival bars dotted around the Estate. The main festival programme will commence at midday on Friday.

Flower and Fodder Stage

The centre for festival food will be the new Flower and Fodder Stage with a line up that includes Sam and Sam Clark (Moro), Skye Gyngell, Rose Prince, Tom Parker Bowles, The Ethicureans, Russell Norman & Luke Bishop (Polpo), Nathan Outlaw, Hemsley + Hemsley, Thomasina Miers, Mark Diacono (Otter Farm), Richard Bertinet (The Bertinet Kitchen), Daniel de la Falaise, Benjamin Ranyard (Higgledy Garden), Jonathon Jones (Tregothnan), Jason Goodwin (The Pauper’s Cookbook), Zita West, Justine Kanter (The Kitchen Coach).

Fortnum & Mason will be setting up a Cornwall based outpost of its restaurant, The Fountain, in the Orangery. Open from 8:00am, ‘Fortnum’s Fountain’ will serve an all-day breakfast and brunch, Cream Tea, and in the evening, Mark Hix takes over the kitchen. For two sittings (the first at 6:30pm aimed at families, and the second at 9:00pm), Hix will be cooking up a range of British classics.

The Wardrobe Department

For juniors Jenny Dyson with Pencil Atelier, invites youngsters to make their own one-off outfits with help from Cath Kidston, Jess and Amelia Pemberton, Amanda Riley, Tegen Williams, Dot Jones and other Pencil pals will be there to assisit, and milliner Piers Atkinson’s floral- based accessories workshops will also form part of the atelier. Budding junior designers will be able to parade their concoctions on the runway during the afternoon fashion show. Penelope Tree will be introducing them.

Illustrator Barbara Hulanicki will be passing on drawing tips in a master class, The Tweeny Fashionista Uni, especially reserved for children aged 7 -13 years.

More fashion themes see face painter Louise Gray return with James Theseus Buck to collaborate with MAC makeup artists, and Alex Brownsell of Bleach London will take residence in a tipi, and milliner Stephen Jones will shoe festival goers how to make on-the-spot headwear with Bumble and bumble for the Prom.

The Flower Appreciation Society, are arriving from London with fresh flowers, along with Piers Atkinson, and The Garden Gate Flower Company, to decorate attendees in unexpected ways.

In 2012, Luella Bartley wrote a whole book, The Girl Who Fell To Earth at Port Eliot. This year, she’s published the tale about ‘An alien teenager who lands at Port Eliot festival – a coming-of-age fairy-tale of feminism and freedom!’ Her launch party takes place here in the Orangery on Thursday.

British jewellery designer Dominic Jones will be sharing his method of growing sustainable miniature plant-worlds in terrariums; bring a jam-jar and make your own with Dominic, finding plants from the Port Eliot estate.

London Fashion Week’s new star Simone Rocha discusses how her work springs from a huge family background in Ireland and Hong Kong, and her girlhood spent dressing up ‘for weddings and funerals’ in conversation with US Vogue’s Sarah Mower.

Jeweller Vicki Sarge will help create innovative jewellery using aluminium foil in master class sessions on the Saturday afternoon of the festival.

Graphic artist Emma J Shipley will be helping to create personalised bandanas
If Clothes Could Speak brings the fashion experiences – the moment, the makeup, the mood – of a single dress to life when young curators Felix Bischof and Holly Bruce bring Sixties model Penelope Tree, fashion journalist Suzy Menkes, and nineties model Jade Parfitt to talk of treasured dresses.

Hole and Corner: The lifestyle and culture magazine ‘about people who spend more time doing than talking’ will move into a corner of the walled garden, presenting all manner of events.

Family friendly

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.

Camping

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 yurt or teepee.

On site

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

The Badger’s Sett , run by knitting, crochet, embroidery, sewing and printing aficionados, Ros Badger and Christine Leech, will emerge near the 19th century Orangery, offering all sorts of crafts sessions . Elsewhere, in the dovegreyreader tent , festivalgoers will be settling in to make quilts, decorating their tents with them as they go.  Creator and purveyor of women’s clothing and accessories, furnishings and gifts , Anthropologie, will be hosting workshops in its (unsurprisingly) beautifully designed home at the festival . Events will feature designers Florence Balducci, Catherine Zoraida, Mister Finch and Anna Collette Hunt among others .

Plus loads more including Kayaking, Sunrise Yoga, Tai Chi, Barefoot Tango, Foraging, Archery, screen printing workshops with Plymouth College of Art, special tours of the House, themed walks across the ancient estate, festival bookshop & signing tent, festival beer from Sharp’s Brewery and lots more that won’t be revealed until it happens.

Caught by The River

Caught by The River, the online haven for music, nature, rambling, gardening, poetry, film, art and angling, will take up its position in the quarry in front of the boathouse looking over the Lynher estuary. Offering music, DJ sets, conversations, readings and archive radio broadcasts.

The Hullabaloo

The Hullabaloo - Port Eliot's 100-year-old Rhododendron Garden will be transformed into a world of games, drama, imagination, music and treasure hunts as Cornwall's captivating Rogue Theatre invites children to take part in tales of fairies, pirates, witches, giants and elves.

Imagine a place where you can dance with trolls, take tea with a giant, make mischief with the pixies and knit dreams with a faerie. Only the wildest of imaginations will open the door to this fantastical other world, The Hullabaloo , nestled in the 100 - year - old Rhododendron Garden, where an international emporium of enchantment is waiting to whisk away children of all ages. Summoned up by the endlessly inventive Rogue Theatre , it’s a family - friendly feast of entertainment, workshops and activities.

Idler Academy

Down on the riverbank, the Idler Academy runs the UK’s ultimate free school. Encouraging philosophy, husbandry and merriment, the Academy’s delightfully eclectic approach to learning has two principles at its core: self - improvement and idling in equal measure. From getting up close and personal with the great Greek thinkers to learning about Luddites, mastering the art of doing nothing to understanding the peculiar habits of the sloth, this is learning with a difference.

Take a dip

Festivalgoers are invited to leap into the estuary of the river Lynher - a particularly beautiful part of the site - whenever the mood takes them. All ages are welcome to dive in and enjoy themselves at high tide. Last year, hundreds jumped in the river.

More information will be here when available.

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