Popular events in St Ives
St Ives boasts a diverse full calendar of events to suit everyone. This does range from ancient traditions to more adrenaline flowing events. There are also several festivals dotted throughout the year, these do include the Food and Drink Festival and September Festival. We have listed the key events in St Ives below.
St Ives Farmers' Market
St Ives Farmers’ Market is a community venture, which brings fresh local produce to St Ives Cornwall. The market runs every Thursday throughout the year at The Guildhall in St Ives from 9.30am until 2pm.
Details
Every Thursday, at The Guildhall, Street an Pol, St Ives TR26 2DS
Casablanca Art School
Tate St Ives will be the first museum in the UK to explore the intense period of artistic rebirth that followed Morocco’s independence, forged by the experimental teaching methods of the Casablanca Art School in the 1960s and 1970s.
Details
27 May 2023 to 14 January 2024Tate St Ives, Porthmeor Beach, St Ives
St Ives Feast Day
Monday 5 February 2024, starting at The Guildhall, Street an Pol, St Ives, TR26 2DY
The St Ives Feast is an ancient tradition that celebrates the anniversary of the consecration of the Parish Church of St Eia in 1434 and offers a rare chance to watch the game of Hurling the Silver Ball.
The feast day falls on the first Monday after February 3rd and starts off at 9.30 a.m with the mayor’s civic procession for the blessing at St Ia Well near Porthmeor Beach, followed by the start of the boisterous hurling of the silver ball when participants attempt to win the ball off each other around the town. Whoever returns the ball to the mayor on the steps of St Ives Guildhall on the stroke of midday receives a silver coin. In the afternoon, pennies are proffered from the balcony by town councillors to the waiting children on the Guildhall forecourt.
For the itinerary for the day please contact St Ives Town Council.
Want to experience this unique event in St Ives? Check out our availability!
May Day
Monday 6th May 2024 (TBC) at The Guildhall, Street an Pol, St Ives TR26 2DS
Celebrating the end of winter and the coming of spring is a tradition that stretches back hundreds of years in West Cornwall and St Ives rekindled its connection to the past when it revived its May Day festival a few years ago.
At midday at the Guildhall the Grand Bard and Mayor choose the May Queen and King and their attending Prince and Princess, in a ceremony known bizarrely as the “pee whip”. The St Ives Guisers, dressed in their traditional black and white "mock formal" make an appearance, horn blowers herald the start of spring and there’ll be May sticks. At 1pm there’s a parade to the harbour where you can watch May pole dances, traditional Cornish dancing and music. Various local choirs and brass bands perform by the harbour throughout the day.
Want to experience May Day in St Ives? Check out our availability.
St Ives Food and Drink Festival
Taste, try, meet, buy, and enjoy the finest flavours and tastes that Cornwall has to offer and see some of the best chefs in the county giving cooking demonstrations in one of the best food and drink destinations anywhere in the UK. Taking place on the iconic Porthminster Beach, this year promises even more culinary experts, attractions and a wide variety of local beverages and food. Now in its seventh year, we have lined up a wonderful range of artisan producers that will tickle your taste buds and keep your appetite stoked. There will be a fantastic range of activities and entertainment which promises fun for all the family.
With everything from beer and cider producers, to chocolate and cheese makers, fruit and vegetable growers and meat, chutney and bread you’ll find plenty to delight your taste buds.
Would you like to be in St Ives whilst the food festival is underway? Check out our availability.
Details
Friday 10th to Sunday 12th May 2024 (TBC)at Porthminster Beach, St Ives, TR26 2EB
St Ives Biathlon
The St Ives Surf Lifesaving Club Biathlon 2024 is 2km run race from St Ives to Carbis Bay followed by a 1.5km open-sea swim back.
Details
To be advised, starts from the Harbour, St Ives.St Ives RNLI Lifeboat Day
This is a very important day for the St Ives Ladies’ Lifeboat Guild. The RNLI is a charity that provides 24-hour life saving around the UK with volunteer crews, giving up their time to carry out rescues in difficult and often dangerous conditions. The aim of our Lifeboat Day is to raise as much money as possible to keep our Lifeboats afloat and for families both local and visitors to come and meet the crew, look at the lifeboats as they will both be on display and browse the stalls.
Details
Date to be confirmed at RNLI Lifeboat Station, Wharf Road, St Ives TR26
St Ives September Festival
14th - 28th September 2024 at various locations throughout St Ives.
With over 300 events planned for this year, there will be something for everyone, so come to our beautiful town and join our St Ives September Festival celebrations – two weeks of great music, exhibitions, walks, talks, workshops, films, comedy, theatre, plays, stories and poetry.
Seen something you want to attend and need somewhere to stay? Check out our availability for the first week, availability for the second week and availability for both weeks.
Christmas in St Ives
Christmas in St Ives is a magical time - stroll along The Wharf to see the fishermen's lights and back along the quaint, cobbled Fore Street, St Andrew's Street, the High Street and Tregenna Place for inspiring window displays. Beautiful trees are lit at the Fishermens' Lodges, the Parish Church, the Guildhall and Royal Square. There are a variety of events happening in St Ives during the Christmas week including, for example, puppet shows, pantomimes and even a Boxing Day swim - there is something for everyone this Christmas!
Looking to stay? Great, please bear in mind that due to Christmas Day falling on Monday this year, we have changed our changeover day for all properties over the festive period.
As Christmas Day falls on Wednesday in 2024, we are able to offer the standard changeover day for all properties over the festive period. For all our available properties, click on the link for our Christmas availability.
New Year's Eve in St Ives
31st December from 6pm till late. Throughout St Ives Town area. Fireworks from the Harbour at midnight.
St Ives has earned itself quite the reputation for hosting a fabulous New Year’s Eve party thanks to the spectacular fireworks display that takes place over St Ives' Harbour. St Ives was ranked third out of 8 by the Daily Mirror for the best places to welcome in the New Year (writer: Julie Delahaye published 31 Dec 2018). The crowds are a little less intense than some of the UK’s city celebrations but beware, fancy dress is compulsory! If you do forget to pack your fancy dress costume there are several outlets in St Ives that will be able to help you out so there's no excuse!
It’s worth noting that on New Year’s Eve, the road closures are usually in place from 6 pm (until 7 am the following morning), meaning that the harbour front is pedestrianised. The atmosphere is buzzing, an all-around family-friendly event. You can easily pub-hop from one end of town to the other until a few minutes before midnight when everyone descends onto the harbour front to watch the dazzling fireworks. Remember, if you want to have a meal with your family and friends before watching the firework display, it is highly recommended that you book your table well in advance. Whatever you get up to on New Year’s Eve it is sure to be a great night for you and the family!
What are you waiting for? Book your self-catering holiday now to welcome 2025! The next challenge is what will be your fancy dress costume? Minions? Jack Sparrow? Edward Scissorhands?
As Christmas Day falls on Wednesday in 2024, we are able to offer the standard changeover day for all properties over the festive period. Our changeover day for the New Year week, is the standard changeover day for the property. Click on the link for the New Year week availability.