Top Picks
Cornwall 365’s Christmas Top Picks
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Cornwall! Here's our top picks of festive things to do in Cornwall this December.
The twinkling lights are being switched on, and festive feasts, adventures and parties are popping up to fill us with Christmas cheer. Here’s your guide to all the best events and cultural happenings taking place across Cornwall this December!
1. 12 Tipi Nights of Christmas
Friday 1st – Tuesday 19th December
Wild Tipi, Cardinham Woods
This winter, the magic of Christmas is coming to Cardinham Woods with the 12 Tipi Nights of Christmas! Through December Wild Tipi and Pencoose Pantry will be throwing a series of Christmas parties, giving you a chance to celebrate the festive season with music, dancing, feasting and laughing, all under the twinkling tipi lights .
Expect fine dining experiences with a live Cornish folk band, big pan party nights with live music and a ceilidh, as well as family fun ceilidh nights to get everyone on their feet and dancing the night away.
2. Krowji Christmas Open Studios
Friday 1st – Sunday 3rd December
Krowji, Redruth
At this festive weekend, 60 artists, makers and designers will be throwing open their studio doors to the public for a one-of-a-kind Christmas shopping experience! See behind the scenes of Cornwall’s largest creative hub, meet the makers, and purchase art, crafts and Christmas gifts… and if you’re anything like me, treat yourself to a Christmas present too.
This free event begins on Friday evening, where you can warm up with a complimentary mince pie and mulled wine accompanied by festive entertainment. A real treat.
3. Shine for Shelterbox Candlelit Supper
Friday 1st December
Amélies, Porthleven
Flickering candlelight. Music on the baby grand. Fantastic food. And all for a great cause.
Part of the Shine for ShelterBox campaign, Amélies are hosting an extra-special candlelit supper – and you’re invited! Head chef Donata Dondiego will be teaming up with local chefs Ben Arthur and Chris Brooks from Seadrift to create a fabulous, Caribbean-inspired menu that reflects ShelterBox’s recent deployments following the devastating hurricanes in the area.
ShelterBox is an international charity that provides vital aid and protection to families who have lost everything due to natural disaster and conflict. The Shine for ShelterBox campaign aims to raise money to bring light to the lives of those suffering in the darkness during the long winter months. All proceeds from the dinner will be donated to ShelterBox. Book your place before they go!
4. Christmas Lantern Walk at Trengwainton
Friday 1st & Saturday 2nd December
Trengwainton, Penzance
Trengwainton’s walled gardens will be lit by the glow of lanterns, flaming torches and fairy lights for one special festive weekend! Warm your hands and your heart with hot food from Roseworthy Farm and the Little Wonder Cafe, accompanied by performances from Pendeen silver band and Penzance Orpheus choir. Children can visit Father Christmas in his grotto, and can decorate their own lantern jar to take home.
5. Etsy Made Local Christmas Fair
Friday 1st – Sunday 3rd December
The Guildhall, St Ives
One of my favourite Christmas markets, this weekend brings Etsy to life with 41 Cornish designers and makers selling unique, high quality products over a super festive weekend. Stalls and a pop up cafe will be open across the weekend, and on Friday evening you’re invited for a Tom Thumb cocktail and live music by Tom Dale to keep you in the groove!
6. Ruby Alice Wreath Making Workshop
Monday 4th & Tuesday 12th December
The Old Coastguard, Mousehole
At these special workshops, award-winning floral designer Alice Matthews will show you how to create your own Christmas wreath to take home and display with pride! Even better, the workshop includes a break for supper, plus a drink on arrival to fill you with Christmas cheer!
7. Sleeping Beauty
Tuesday 5th – Sunday 31st December
Hall for Cornwall, Truro
Edward ‘Kernow King’ Rowe and Granville Saxton return in this year’s Christmas show Sleeping Beauty, the final chapter in a trilogy of adventures featuring our much loved Cornishman, Kenwyne, and his extended family.
Disaster has befallen the Kingdom of King Mark. Beloved Princess Rose has been struck down by an ancient curse which forces her to sleep for an eternity, the King is nowhere to be seen and sinister forces are plotting to take power. What we need is a hero. But is there anyone brave enough to take on this princely quest? Who will defeat the dreaded dragon Leatherclaw and awaken our sleeping beauty with true love’s kiss?
From the creative team that brought you hit shows Dick Whittington and his Mousehole Cat! and Jack and the Beanstalk, Hall for Cornwall are proud to present its own home grown production to enchant and entertain adults and children alike. With magic, music, comedy and some sparkling surprises, make sure you book your tickets now – it promises to be a ‘bewty!
8. Near-ta Theatre: Christmas. Time.
Wednesday 6th December
Mawnan Memorial Hall
Saturday 9th December
St. Mawes Memorial Hall
Wednesday 13th December
St. Erme Community Centre
Tuesday 19th December
The Acorn, Penzance
Wednesday 20th December
Wadebridge Town Hall
Thursday 21st – Saturday 23rd December
The Poly, Falmouth
Bringing bucket-loads of Christmas spirit, and back for its eighth year, is Near-ta Theatre’s festive comedy, Christmas. Time.!
Charlie and Toby are feeling low, and why wouldn’t they? It’s Christmas Day and they’re serving time at Her Majesty’s pleasure. But why shouldn’t they be having a Merry Christmas in spite of their incarceration? What’s stopping them from creating Christmas around them? Absolutely nothing! And so they set off on their festival of carols, Claus, Christ and custody!
Join them on a fantastical adventure through Dickens, pantomime, musical, Christmas dinner and Christmas films. Watch as they build a wonderfully Merry Christmas around them with songs, snowmen and lots of laughs in this truly festive show that puts the ‘cell’ firmly back in ‘celebration’!
9. Christmas Woodburner Session – Velvet & Stone
Friday 8th December
Lusty Glaze, Newquay
Hopping back across the Tamar, Velvet & Stone return for their second appearance at Lusty Glaze, and a Christmassy one to boot! The indie-folk band from Devon combine soulful blues vocals with guitar, violin and roots song-writing to create a serene, acoustic and original sound. Entry is fee but you will need to book a table at the restaurant for Velvet & Stone to serenade you whilst you eat.
10. Wheal Martyn’s Lantern Trail with Story Republic
Saturday 9th December
Wheal Martyn, St Austell
The joyous Story Republicans will be spreading the cheer at Wheal Martyn with a repertoire of poetry, short story and song this winter! For this festive season they have gathered together a concoction of ghostly tales, traditional songs by composer Rick Williams and eerie ballads from poets Charles Causley and Walter de la Mare. Join in the fun from 4pm when you can decorate your own jam jar lantern before heading out into the night… and make sure to warm up after the trail with carol singing and festive refreshments in the cafe!
11. Winter Wood - Rogue Theatre
Thursday 9th – Saturday 30th December
Tehidy Woods, North Cliffs
This winter, Rogue Theatre invite you once more to step through the trees and experience the Winter Wood as stories weave their magic and the imaginary comes to life…
Expect live music, festive stories, winter wonders, free hot chocolate, a warm place to relax, sparkly face painting and the chance to make your own traditional winter decoration to take home. This is a Christmas adventure for families and all those who still believe in Magic (so count us in).
12. Bah Humbug! A Christmas Carol - Miracle Theatre
Thursday 14th – Sunday 31st December
The Poly, Falmouth
This December, Miracle breathes new life into the second most famous Christmas story in the world – Charles Dickens’ heart-warming masterpiece A Christmas Carol.
Following a sell-out run of Cinderella last year, Miracle is back at Falmouth’s Princess Pavilion, with a re-telling of this timeless classic about the cold-hearted miser Scrooge and his joyous redemption.
Jam-packed with unforgettable characters, laughter, music and the latest digital trickery, Miracle will propel you on a spellbinding journey through the events of Scrooge’s life as he is forced to confront his past, present and future!
As much a part of Christmas as wise men or mince pies, this perennial favourite continues to delight all ages and rekindle feelings of charity and goodwill. Or, as Scrooge would say… “Bah! Humbug!”
13. Prideaux Angels
Saturday 16th – Thursday 28th December
Prideaux Place, Padstow
It’s Christmas 1941. The people of Prideaux Place are preparing for a party. Blown in on icy winds, a robin heralds the arrival of a mysterious visitor, a visitor who touches the hearts of all those she meets; turning the house and gardens into a magical, Christmassy place.
Join the family as they make snowflakes and angels to decorate the gardens. Just keep your eyes peeled, our Lord and Lady are due any moment…
Set in the beauty and grandeur of Padstow’s Prideaux Place, with live and recorded music, a giant snow-globe, angels, robins and snowflakes; Prideaux Angels is a captivating, moving and magical promenade performance for all ages to enjoy this winter.
14. Tropical Pressure Christmas Party
Saturday 16th December
Mount Pleasant Eco Park, Porthtowan
This totally tropical party promises a night of good food, music, fire and frolics with live music and DJs playing over two venues until 2am. Dress to impress with a ‘Bird of Paradise’ dress code, then shake your tail feather to Count Bobo, The Iguanas and DJs Countryman, Bobby Soul, Miss FiFi, Sir Vinyl, Arnold Van Den Dolder, Konquerin Sounds and Alex Conrad.
15. The Mousehole Cat
Sunday 17th – Sunday 31st December
Solomon Browne Hall, Mousehole
Mowzer is back home for Christmas in this magical puppet and live action production of Antonia Barber’s classic children’s story, The Mousehole Cat, performed in the heart of Mousehole alongside the village’s famous Christmas light display.
Based on a well-known Cornish legend this uniquely heart warming story of the friendship between a fearless fisherman and his devoted cat will warm the cockles of everyone’s hearts… almost as much as an ‘efty portion of stargazy pie!
16. Christmas at Eden
Eden Project are spreading the Christmas cheer this season! Visit the man in red and his elves, get your skates on at the ice rink, and meander through festive plant displays in the Mediterranean Biome. The dazzling Festival of Light and Sound returns, with Eden’s landscape transformed with stunning new light projections, dramatic soundscapes and live music for 2017.
