Port Eliot Festival 2017

The Port Eliot Festival of creative arts will take place between Thursday 27th and Sunday 30th July 2017 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 13 years years of its existence, has grown to offer a rich diversity of arts and entertainment encompassing music, literature, poetry, comedy, film and art.

Line-up

A number of acts are confirmed for music, comedy, writing & authors, photography, cookery and more. Announced acts include:- Nick Lowe, Saint Etienne, This is the Kit, Bombino, The Lilac Time, The Comet is Coming, Fumaça Preta, Karen Elson, Holly Macve, Melt Yourself Down, Rozi Plain, Rose Elinor Dougall, Duke Garwood, Hooton Tennis Club, H. Hawkline, Chris Difford, The Orielles, Jeb Loy Nichols, Andrew Weatherall & Sean Johnston, The Parrots, Childhood, Girl Ray, Samantha Morton, Stanley Tucci, Karen Elson, Holly Macve and many more.

Please see the line-up page for more names, and the news items for further info. 

Tickets

Tickets are SOLD OUT.

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Tickets are priced at £165 each (please note there's an additional booking fee).

Child aged 14 to 17 years inclusive tickets are priced at £100, tickets for children aged 8 to 13 years inclusive are priced at £70, and children aged 7 years and under can attend for free. A campervan pass is £60 with £40 for an electric hook up. Car parking £10.

Family options and day tickets are also on sale.

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.

Family friendly

Families are especially welcome at the festival and there's a special supervised kids' area featuring performances, crafts, workshops and more.

There's a new area for younger festivalgoers called Pulse offering storytelling, live music, table games, jam sessions for guitarists, bass players, drummers and singers, a well-stocked tuck shop and a series of workshops (including Bangra and African Dance and hip hop and rap sessions). Open until midnight Friday to Sunday. Check the information board when you're onsite to see what's happening and when.

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.

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.

Literary Stages

There will be 2 literary stages, Bowling Green and Walled Garden, each with a range of artists, writers and thinkers discussing and performing. The line-up for these stages includes Hollie McNish, Louis De Bernières, Karl Hyde, Andrew O’Hagan, Nina Stibbe, Matt Haig, Ben Macintyre, Daisy Buchanan, Michael Foreman, Andrew Simms, Geoff Dyer, Bella Bathurst, Julia Samuel, Robert Newman, Tim Lott, Gwendoline Riley, Decca Aitkenhead as well as plasticine lessons from Aardman Animations - the team behind Wallace and Gromit

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.

Flower and Fodder Stage

Home to the chefs, growers, gardeners and food writers coming to Port Eliot. Much of this year’s workshop programme is inspired by the search for good food and drink. Workshop subjects include foraging, mixology, wild cocktail making, learning all about the most powerful food on the planet with the Cornish Seaweed Company, cider and cheese pairing and campfire cooking.

Audience members of all ages are invited to enter all sorts of competitive classes, as well as putting forward their best pasties, cakes, buns, jam tarts and boozy preserves.

Cornish food, drink, produce, treats and delicacies will also be on show.

Food and Drink

The festival has a carefully curated range of food and drink, with a large range of freshly caught seafood, other local and traditional delicacies and international streetfood.

Drinks will be provided by The Sipsmith Gin Shop, Mary's Bloody Ambulance and Skinner's Brewery.

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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