Golowan Festival

Golowan Festival

Golowan (sometimes also Goluan or Gol-Jowan) is the Cornish language word for the Midsummer celebrations in Cornwall, UK: widespread prior to the late 19th century and most popular in the Penwith area and in particular Penzance and Newlyn. The celebrations were conducted from the 23rd of June (St John's Eve) to the 28th of June (St Peter's Eve) each year, St Peter's Eve being the more popular in Cornish fishing communities. The celebrations were centred around the lighting of bonfires and fireworks and the performance of associated rituals. The midsummer bonfire ceremonies (Tansys Golowan in Cornish) were revived at St Ives in 1929 by the Old Cornwall Society and since then spread to other societies across Cornwall, as far as Kit Hill near Callington. Since 1991 the Golowan festival in Penzance has revived many of these ancient customs and has grown to become a major arts and culture festival: its central event 'Mazey Day' now attracts tens of thousands of people to the Penzance area in late June.