Top Picks
Cornwall 365’s January Top Picks
15 fabulous things to do in Cornwall to help beat the January blues!
Though the festive season is coming to a close, there’s still lots of fun things to do in Cornwall this New Year. Whether you want to start 2018 blowing away the cobwebs with a New Year swim, cosying up with a hearty brunch or learning something new, we’ve got you covered for January. We’ll see you out there!
1. Dip for CLIC - Newquay New Years Swim
Newquay Harbour
Monday 1st January
What better way to see in the New Year than with a bracing dip?! Join fellow brave swimmers at Newquay Harbour for a plunge into the Atlantic Ocean, all whilst raising money for children and young people with cancer through CLIC Sargent.
Entry is £5 per person, which you can pay on the day. Don’t forget to dress to impress too – there’s a prize for the best costume!
2. Trebah New Year's Day Brunch
Trebah Garden, Falmouth
Monday 1st January
The perfect thing for those of us who might be waking up a little later in the New Year than others… Trebah will be serving their delicious breakfast menu until 2.30pm.
3. Degol Stul 12th Night Celebration + Fire in the Heart
Heartlands, Redruth
Saturday 6th January
Start your New Year off on the right foot at Degol Stul, a Twelfth Night celebration of Cornish Celtic music and dance. Events and workshops in the day time include Cornish music and dance sessions, mask and costume making, a ‘Fire in the Heart’ bonfire celebration and a free teatime performance followed by a musical procession before the evening celebrations begin.
Stick around for Nos Lowen (a fabulously fun Cornish dance night) where Skillywidden, Salt & Sky, Ar Menez with Neil Davey, Black Eyed Nancy and many more will have you up and dancing all night long!
4. Boscastle Old Christmas and Wassail
Museum of Witchcraft and Magic
Saturday 6th January
Celebrate ‘Old Christmas’ in Boscastle with the Cornish winter traditions of guise processions, traditional music, dances and Wassailing ceremony.
The night begins with free mulled wine from a cauldron outside the museum before the arrival of the guise performers with a torch-lit procession, guise beasts and music.
Join the group of noisy revellers for a traditional Wassailing Ceremony to scare away any lurking demons and promote a bountiful harvest in the coming Autumn, before following a serpent dance of drumming and Cornish piping around the harbour and back into the village where the celebration will continue at Boscastle’s Cobweb Inn and Wellington.
5. This Is The Kit at St Petroc's Church, Bodmin
St Petroc’s Church, Bodmin
Friday 12th January
Beguiling, playful alt-folk with intriguing lyrics, BBC Radio 6 Music favourites This Is The Kit perform in the unique setting of St Petroc’s Church, Bodmin.
6. Paint a Wooden Bowl Workshop with Amy Isles Freeman
Potager Garden, Falmouth
Saturday 13th January
Come and paint your own hand turned wooden bowl with Amy Isles Freeman, at the beautiful Potager Cafe in Constantine. Make an art object that you or a loved one can treasure.
Every student will make a completely unique bowl to take home, entirely painted with their own design – even better, tea, cofffee and cake will be served, followed by Prosecco. Count us in!
7. Faeries, Fables and Folklore at Eden
Eden Project, St Austell
Saturday 13th & Sunday 14th January
Get lost in a world of Cornish flora, fauna and folklore at Eden with Squashbox Theatre’s Skillywidden. This fantastic performance celebrates the wildlife and faerie myths of Cornwall with crazy characters, silly slapstick, puppets, songs and storytelling.
You’ll also be treated to traditional Cornish music with a twist from The Countrymen. With a vast repertoire of folk rock and a cappella pieces, this lively lot will get the whole family’s toes tapping.
8. Wassail – Apple tree Winter celebration
St Ives Community Orchard
Sunday 14th January
Join the Apple Wassail at St Ives Community Orchard to bless the trees to produce a good harvest for the coming year! Think bonfires, singing, dancing, and drinking mulled cider, all whilst making as much noise as you can to ward off bad spirits from the orchard. Bring something to make some noise as you join the merrymakers – instruments and pots and pans alike!
Eat, drink and be merry, and wish the trees ‘waes heal’ (good health!)
9. Winter Foraging Course with Tasters
Perranuthnoe
Sunday 14th January
Take in some fantastic views and enjoy some easy walking on this winter foray. Winter in Cornwall can be rich for foraging, with wild spices and leaves to keep us nourished through these colder months. Rachel Lambert from Wild Walks South West will show you what’s what – and provide tasty morsels to try too!
10. Evening Class: Throwing/ Clay on the Wheel at Leach Pottery
Leach Pottery, St Ives
Wednesday 17th January – Wednesday 14th March
Offered in 8 week blocks, this course offers a unique opportunity for you to learn and improve your throwing techniques in the inspirational setting of Bernard Leach’s studio.
Taught by Britta James, one of Leach’s production potters in the workshop, this course will take you through the full process from clay preparation to slip decorating. You will learn throwing techniques for one-offs or production, turning and finishing, handle pulling and decorating techniques. No experience needed!
11. Saint Petersburg Classic Ballet: Giselle at Hall for Cornwall
Hall for Cornwall, Truro
Wednesday 17th & Thursday 18th January
This is the quintessential story of unrequited love. Giselle, an innocent young village girl, loves to dance in spite of the uncertainty of a weak heart, and enjoys a simple life in her village. This story follows her through tender romance, heartbreak, death and the afterlife, as she ultimately saves the life of a man who has betrayed her.
12. Cornwall Wildlife Trust presents A Plastic Ocean screening at Mount Pleasant Ecological Park
Mount Pleasant Ecological Park, Redruth
Friday 26th January
A Plastic Ocean begins when journalist Craig Leeson, searching for the elusive blue whale, discovers plastic waste in what should be pristine ocean. In this adventure documentary, Craig teams up with free diver Tanya Streeter and an international team of scientists and researchers, and they travel to twenty locations around the world over the next four years to explore the fragile state of our oceans, uncover alarming truths about plastic pollution, and reveal working solutions that can be put into immediate effect.
13. Beach Finds Jewellery Making Workshop & Brunch with Sarah Drew
Tremenheere Kitchen, Penzance
Saturday 27th January
Make your precious bits of sea-glass, sea-plastic, driftwood and pebbles into contemporary statement jewellery in this laid-back workshop which is perfect for beginners and more experienced makers alike. Sarah will go through simple wire-wrapping, threading and connecting skills to enable you to make beach find rings, stylish pendants, cuffs and statement collage necklaces to wear with pride. Don’t worry if you haven’t got any beach finds to use, Sarah will bring plenty of found treasure along for you to choose from, and all tools and materials are included in the price.
Following the workshop, enjoy a delicious brunch cooked by the chefs at Tremenheere Kitchen.
14. Simply Fish course at Philleigh Way
Philleigh Way Cookery School, Roseland
Saturday 27th January
On this beginners one day fish course, fish monger Annie Sibert will teach you the skills and techniques necessary to correctly identify, source and prepare a wide variety of Cornish fish. A step by step beginners guide to fish preparation incorporating fish selection, sustainability, seasonality, filleting and some very simple cooking techniques aimed at giving you the skills and confidence to make fresh Cornish fish a regular feature on your dinner table.
15. Thrown Gauntlet Festival
Falmouth
Friday 26th – Sunday 28th January
A celebration of artistic creativity, The Thrown Gauntlet Festival will see fifteen houses in Falmouth turn into galleries, concerts will resound from bedrooms, a dancer will explore the domesticity of a kitchen, characters will walk the streets and sculptures and poets will spring up in alleys. We can’t wait!
