Started in 1978, the festival lasts for fifteen days offering a wide range of music, arts and literature events in locations throughout St Ives, attracting visitors from far and wide.

What happens?

With music, visual arts, poetry, literature, theatre and cinema on offer around St Ives, in Cornwall. 

This year’s Festival (2019) will take place over 15 days from Saturday, September 14th , to Saturday, September 28th. Headlining on the musical side of things are Show of Hands, Otway and Barrett, Geoff Lakeman, Sarah Jane Morris and Sam Kelly and the Lost Boys amongst others.

Shanty singers will join the largely-classical two-week St Ia Church music programme for the first time during this year's St Ives September Festival. Two Cornish shanty groups - Bryher's Boys and St Ives' Bamaluz Bootleggers - will form one half of a Four Choirs Concert at the church along with Gwel Trencrom Singers and Phoenix Singers of St Ives on Sunday, September 15. It will be the fourth successive year that St Ia Church has hosted a full 15-day Festival programme of music, including classical, jazz, choirs, bands and now shanty, since Peter Luing became director of music there.

Other attractions include arts workshops and classes, arts exhibitions, talks, walks, theatre, comedy, films, cabaret, street entertainment, poetry, and many other events. As well as Open Studios, where local artists open their workspaces to the public in order to feature their work in art, ceramics, textiles and glass; there will also be an art exhibition in the St Ives School of Painting and ceramic pit firing on Porthmeor Beach.

To book tickets click here