The Golowan Festival and why you should buy recycled clothes
August 11, 2025Why buy recycled clothes? If you have any enjoyment of the great festivals of the world, if you have ever walked in a park or admired a ladybird, then buying and selling used clothes is an eco-friendly way to reduce waste in the fashion industry. Secondhand clothing, whether found in second hand stores, clothing stores, or online thrift shops, helps in extending the life of garments and keeps them out of landfill. More people are choosing to buy and sell second hand instead of always buying new, supporting recycled clothing and making more sustainable choices.
If you find yourself in Penzance in late June, you might think you’ve stumbled into some sort of midsummer dream. The sky smells of sea salt and charcoal, the air is thick with music and the swish of silk flags, and a riot of colours threads its way down Market Jew Street. You are, of course, at the Golowan Festival. A celebration with ancient roots and a thoroughly modern heart, Golowan is Cornwall’s great midsummer revel. It is a festival that spills out of the past and into the present with a whirl of community spirit, papier-mâché creatures, live brass bands, and the unmistakable stomp of feet on cobbled streets.
Golowan festival. Image G Jones
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Golowan, the Cornish word for the Feast of St John, was once a festival of fire. In the nineteenth century it meant blazing bonfires, flame-lit processions and the now legendary serpent dance, a kind of human ribbon winding its way through the town. There were fireworks too, as described in detail in accounts from the time, though these were frowned upon by the authorities. By the late 1800s, health and safety had triumphed, and Golowan was extinguished. The fires died out. The dances were forgotten. The hobby horse, Penglaz, was boxed away. But not for long.
In 1991, a group of artists, teachers, and local mischief-makers revived Golowan, digging into Penzance’s history and giving it a new lease of life. The modern festival was born from a collaboration between Kneehigh Theatre, Penwith schools, the town council, and the unstoppable drive of the community. What they created is a joyous hybrid: part historical reenactment, part riotous street party, and wholly, unashamedly Cornish. Since then, the festival has grown from a small local event into one of the largest and most unique community festivals in the UK.
Mazey Eve
The festival runs for ten days, though most visitors make a beeline for the final weekend, and with good reason. It begins with Mazey Eve on the Friday night, when Penglaz the hobby horse appears. Penglaz, for the uninitiated, is not the seaside pony you might expect. With its skeletal head, flowing ribbons and dancing handler, it is part ghost, part spectacle, and wholly compelling. On Mazey Eve it is joined by the Golowan Band, torch-bearers, drummers, and an ever-expanding crowd of revellers. There is also the election of the Mock Mayor, a tongue-in-cheek nod to Penzance’s ancient customs. The atmosphere is part mayhem, part ritual, part street theatre, and somehow all of it feels entirely normal by the time the fireworks light up the sea.
Mazey Day
Buy recycled clothes to get ready for the main event. The following day is Mazey Day, the beating heart of Golowan. From early morning, the streets are filled with parades of children, artists and community groups, each carrying magnificent constructions made from willow, recycled materials and buckets of imagination. Some are simple and sweet. Others are utterly surreal. The town becomes a gallery on the move. Imagine a fish the size of a camper van, an octopus with twenty legs and a mechanical heartbeat, a castle on wheels, or a dragon made of milk bottles. They are carried through the streets to the beat of samba bands and the cheers of locals who’ve watched the festival evolve from handmade beginnings to an event that still feels entirely human in scale.
Each Mazey Day has a theme. For 2025 it is On the Crest of a Wave, a tribute to Cornwall’s sea-soaked heritage. The creative possibilities are endless. Already, sketches of sea serpents, pirates, mermaids and trawler boats are doing the rounds on community Facebook pages and being whispered about in art classrooms. The schoolchildren, who form the heart of the parades, spend weeks in preparation. This is not a show that is handed to them. It is one they build themselves, with cardboard, string, teamwork, and flair.
As midday approaches, the parades begin in earnest. They come in waves, often following a loose narrative or thematic shape. Between each one, the crowd spills into the street, buying food from stalls, bumping into neighbours, and dancing to the street bands that pop up on every corner. The whole town becomes pedestrianised, not just in infrastructure but in spirit. Time bends. Schedules dissolve. There is no single place to be, because the festival is everywhere at once.
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One of the lesser known but most enchanting aspects of Golowan is the serpent dance. While not officially scheduled, it emerges as a sort of collective muscle memory. Someone links arms. Others follow. Soon, a hundred people are weaving their way down the street, ducking under arches of human arms, laughing as they move in rhythm. It is playful, beautiful, and deeply rooted in the past. In the 19th century, the serpent dance was performed around bonfires, and children were allowed to jump over the flames. Today, there are fewer fires and more high-vis vests, but the spirit remains.
Quay Fair Day
On Sunday, the festival draws to a close with Quay Fair Day. The action shifts to the harbourside, where craft stalls, food vendors, and buskers line the waterfront. There is a faint sense of exhale in the air, but it is a gentle one. People wander with ice creams and pasties, browsing handmade jewellery and ceramics, watching Morris dancers and listening to sea shanties. Some lie on the grass in Penlee Park, watching outdoor performances.
At the centre of it all is community. It is not a curated showcase but a living, breathing celebration made by and for the people of Penzance and West Cornwall. The festival is intergenerational. Toddlers are in costumes and pensioners play trombone. Golowan is inclusive, playful, mischievous, sincere, and ever-evolving.
