Golowan Festival 2012 - June 16 - 24 2012
The Golowan festival (Cornish for midsummer) is the festival of St. John and is held in Penzance each year between June 16 - 24 2012. Although it is an old tradition, it was revived by a group of artists and local schools in 1991 in order to remember the local area heritage. The festival is ten days long, culminating in the Mazey weekend and notably Mazey Day on Saturday June 23 2012.Golowan was one of the last mid summer festivals practiced in Cornwall. In the 1890's, the Penzance government outlawed the festival due to the rising insurance premiums for the towns business community. Traditionally the towns streets were lined with alight tar barrels which were paraded around. The surrounding hills had bonfires set at the top, throwing dancing shadows all around mounts bay and beyond.
The modern Golowan is arguable a little less dangerous. The celebration of the area arts and culture attracts tens of thousands of visitors to the area from local towns and as far as the Asian continent and further. The core of the celebrations is Mazey day, when the streets are filled with market stalls and entertainers, and the towns school children parade up and down market jew street starting at st. johns hall holding aloft large paper mache and wicker creations. It truly is a sight to behold, with some figures being larger than the building around them. The weekend begins with mazey eve and ends with the quay fair.