Things To Do in April/May

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@ PH Lebruman

1. REFLECT FOR EASTER

Easter runs from April 15 to 18, and there’s plenty happening in Cornwall. Truro Cathedral is a good place to start; as well as major services, you will find The Stations of The Cross, ten oil paintings by artist Zoe Cameron recording Christ’s final journey and resurrection (until April 21). Also in Truro, the BIG EASTER Market will run on Lemon Quay from April 13 to 16, 9am to 4pm, with over 60 stallholders in attendance. The St Endellion Easter Festival takes place from April 9 to 17 at St Endellion near Port Isaac; highlights include Sir James MacMillan conducting his own Stabat Mater, and two performances of a new translation of Bach's St Matthew Passion. www.endelienta.org.uk

2. FEAST ON TASTER POTS

Porthleven Food Festival (April 22 to 24) makes a welcome return following a twoyear break due to Covid-19. While the Chef’s Theatre sits at the heart of the event in the tent on the Harbour Head, The Diner’s Club offers space to sit and enjoy samples from street food stalls. These taster pots will cost less, so you can try more - the very essence of a food festival. The food market is now run by the team behind the Food & Farming tent at the Royal Cornwall Show. Family entertainment on the playing field includes circus skills, crafts and a visit from Porthleven’s resident mermaid; and the new Ann’s Pasty Lounge will offer comedy, choirs, cocktail masterclasses, crimping workshops and more, while Busk Stops provide music across the site. Unticketed; donations welcome. www.porthlevenfoodfestival.com

3. TAKE IN A SPRING FESTIVAL

Folk and jazz, history and art, films and photography, choirs and quartets, walks and talks – all feature in the diverse programme of events of the Roseland Festival (April 23 to May 7), taking place across the beautiful peninsula in locations including St Mawes, Veryan and Portscatho. www.roselandfestival.co.uk. In Falmouth, the team at the Cornish Bank have curated grassroots music and arts festival Wanderfal (April 8 and 9), with more than 30 bands spanning five venues (including the Princess Pavillion). Headline acts include This Is The Kit (pictured), Martha Tilston and the London Bulgarian Choir. wanderfalfestival. eventbrite.co.uk. And Healey’s Cornish Cyder Farm at Penhallow presents RattlerFest (April 21 to 24), with headline acts including The Feeling, DJ Scott Mills and The Utah Saints. rattler-fest.co.uk

4. SPEAK CORNISH

The Annual Cornish Language Weekend (Pennseythen Gernewek Bledhynnyek) is hosted by Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek at St Austell Arts Centre from April 22 to 24. The three-day weekend offers language lessons, workshops, talks, social events and entertainment for Cornish speakers of all levels, from absolute beginner to fluent and with family language sessions on Saturday and Sunday. Buy tickets via Eventbrite, or find out more about the weekend line-up at cornish-language. org/cornish-language-weekend/ Speak Cornish – Feasts and Festivals. Page 37

5. VISIT A GARDEN

Spring has arrived, and with it a dazzling display of camellias, magnolias and rhodondendrons. There are so many gardens to choose from in Cornwall, including Pentillie near Saltash (open Sunday, May 8) and Trewidden near Penzance (open daily until September 25). Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s Open Gardens season launches on April 24 with Pedn Billy,

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near Mawnan Smith - expect incredible views of the Helford (for further dates and venues, visit cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk); while ancient Enys, near Penryn, is famed for its bluebells – for further details of opening dates, visit enysgardens.org.uk More gardens: page 32.

6. CELEBRATE MALE VOICE CHOIRS

More than 60 choirs from around the world will gather in Cornwall for the 10th bienniel International Male Choral Festival (April 28 to May 2), with performances at 40 venues including Truro Cathedral and the renovated Hall For Cornwall. Look out for the winner of the Festival’s Composers’ Competition: “Tale of a Train: The City of Truro”, by Kari Cruver Medina from Seattle, was inspired by a picture on the wall of the Rising Sun pub. The City of Truro was built for the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1903 by Kari’s great-great-uncle, and was the first British steam locomotive to exceed 100mph, pulling the mail train from Plymouth to London Paddington in 1904. Visit www.cimcf.uk or purchase concert tickets at www.hallforcornwall.org.uk

7. RUN AN ULTRA-MARATHON

Feeling ambitious? Put your running shoes on and tackle the 16th Endurancelife Classic Quarter, a relentless Ultra Marathon along the South West Coast Path from Lizard Point to Land's End on May 21. The task is brutally simple: to run non-stop from the southernmost point of England (Lizard Point) to the westernmost tip (Land’s End) - 90 degrees of the compass, hence the name Classic Quarter. This challenge can be undertaken solo, or as a relay team of two or four. In 2021 Classic Quarter participants raised over £21,000 for good causes. Raise more than £400 for a charity and your entry is free. Sign up at www.endurancelife.com

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8. REMEMBER SHACKLETON

It is exactly 100 years since Sir Ernest Shackleton died during the Quest expedition to Antarctica, but his legacy remains as powerful and fascinating as ever. Interest was reignited by the discovery of the long-lost wreck of his ship, the Endurance, 3km below the icy Weddell Sea in early March, making a new celebration of the life and achievements of the polar exploration pioneer extremely timely. Charlestown’s Shipwreck Treasure Museum, in association with the Royal Geographic Society and the Institute of British Geographers, presents the immersive Shackleton Experience in the museum’s network of tunnels, setting the scene of this daring expedition into a harsh, unknown wilderness. An accompanying exhibition, Shackleton’s Legacy and the Power of Early Antarctic Photography, will display a selection of images taken by the man himself or by the leading photographers he commissioned. From April 9. www.shipwreckcharlestown.co.uk

9. OBSERVE CORNISH TRADITIONS

Camborne remembers its most famous son, engineer Richard Trevithick, on Saturday, April 30. Trevithick Day will see the town centre come alive with vintage steam engines and other vehicles, street entertainment, morning and afternoon dances led by Camborne Town Band, exhibitions and plenty of singing: Listen out for the town anthem, Goin’ Up Camborne Hill. And in Helston, on Saturday, May 7, Helston Flora Day will mark the end of winter and the arrival of the fertility of spring. Locals will decorate their houses with greenery, and don their finery to do the historic Furry Dance through the town’s streets. For more information and advice on attending this very busy day, visit www.helstonfloraday.org.uk

10. HEAR THE DAWN CHORUS

Research shows the sound of birdsong can increase happiness and wellbeing by up to 30%. May 3 is International Dawn Chorus Day, but if getting up early fills you with dread (around 3am at the height of summer), you can go online at a more civilised hour to hear how it sounded in an ancient mixed tree woodland near Truro. From their small cottage backing on to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Nichola Andersen and Swenson Kearey enjoy a large variety of birds: blue, coal, great and long-tailed tits; owls, buzzards, woodpeckers, nuthatches and finches. They have recorded the dawn chorus daily since the start of the pandemic. “We know we’re lucky to hear so many birds every morning,” says Nichola, “so we decided to share this experience with those who may not have the time, space or location to enjoy it in real time.” www.dawnchoruslive.org