Feast on food, art and culture in St Ives

With 2016 well under way and spring within touching distance, we can feel the all too familiar bubbles of excitement building for the year ahead. St Ives is a beautiful place to visit at any time of year but if you like to satisfy your inner culture vulture whilst travelling, why not coincide your holiday with one of our favourite festivals? There is certainly plenty to choose from…

St Ives Literature Festival

Saturday 14^th – Saturday 21^st May

If you’re a wordsmith at heart then we highly recommend a visit to St Ives during the literature festival. Packed with events celebrating the written word there is a busy schedule of events taking place across the town from open-air poetry readings and comedy to book launches and live music. Just around the corner in Norway Square you can listen to live music and poetry readings every day (for free) and if you have always flirted with the idea of penning your own work, there are a range of drop-in workshops to get you started.

If a luxury literature break sounds like your cup of tea, take a look at the remaining availability in our luxury self-catering apartments in Cornwall here.

St Ives Food and Drink Festival

Saturday 15^th & Sunday 15^th May

St Ives Food and Drink Festival celebrates some of the regions finest producers, chefs and local food on Porthminster Beach. The weekend plays hosts to a number of talented local chefs who will be showcasing their culinary skills with some fabulous cookery demonstrations, rumour has it there may even be a few well known chef’s also paying a visit to the cookery stage! There will also be a live music stage to really add that festival flavour and if you’re feeling a bit peckish you’ll be spoilt for choice with the range of food stalls offering street food style catering. The producers market will be bigger and better this year so have a wander and try a few nibbles for free.

If the foodie vibe floats your boat we have put together a special package for the festival weekend, find out more here.

St Ives September Festival

10^th – 24^th September

One of our favourites and most certainly a highlight of the year, St Ives September Festival is a cultural feast offering two weeks of live music, art, performance and exhibitions across a huge number of venues in the town. With something for everyone this festival is hugely diverse and spans all genres from world music, folk and jazz to name just a few. The headline acts are beginning to trickle through and so far the confirmed names include ‘Rick Wakeman’, ‘Baka Beyond’ and ‘Sound of the Sirens’. The majority of events are ticketed but you’ll also find lots of quirky street artists on hand to provide lots of free entertainment throughout the festival.

If getting knee deep in culture has your pulse racing checkout our remaining availability for the festival weeks here.

Kelly x

Tate St Ives

St Ives has a rich history of art and culture which is still vibrant in the town today.  Explore the numerous art galleries dotted amongst the meandering lanes, perhaps pop into one of the life drawing classes or just bask in the unique light that originally attracted so many artists to St Ives.  The towns reputation for attracting artists is so prolific that the British institution Tate chose St Ives for its third sight in 1993, and ever since the gallery has been championing St Ives’s relationship with art and artists.

The Sail Lofts luxury holiday accommodation in St Ives is just a five minute walk from the Tate St Ives and as a guest with us you receive complimentary entry to the gallery and Barbara Hepworth Garden and museum, and also receive 10% discount at the shop and café.

The Tate is currently undergoing a major expansion project to transform existing spaces and create new areas for displaying more artwork, allowing visitors to engage more deeply with art. The new gallery will be able to accommodate larger scale artworks and installations and give visitors a more relaxing and social visit.  To see the work planned please follow the link below:

http://www.tate.org.uk/about/projects/tate-st-ives-project

As a consequence of this work the gallery is temporarily closed from October 2015 until May 2016 but the Hepworth Gardens will remain open as normal and in the meantime the Tate St Ives is working in collaboration with the Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange Penzance. So if you wanted to explore beyond your 5 star accommodation in St Ives, a trip to the gallery is a great day out!

Situated in the historic fishing village of Newlyn, which is home to a fleet of 40 strong fishing vessels, the gallery is currently hosting a collaborative exhibition with Tate St Ives of modern British painter Sir Terry Frost. The collection of Frosts work includes paintings, collages and sculptural forms from his 60 year career. The exhibition runs until 9^th January 2016 and for more information please follow the link below:

http://newlynartgallery.co.uk/

For more ideas for things to do in Newlyn watch this space!

Abi x

St Ives September Festival

We are pleased to be supporting the St Ives September Festival 2010 which is set to be a great week of music, art, theatre and events. The Guildhall will once again be hosting the majority of the music with St Ives Parish church acting as a secondary venue.

Some highlights of the festival this year include:

Guildhall

Battle of the Bands - 13th 7:30pm £7.50 presented by Every Child Matters.

Eddi Reader - 14th 8:30pm £20 Eddi Reader is a Scottish singer known both for her work with Fairground Attraction and for an enduring solo career. 

Atlan - 15th 8:30pm £20 Atlan emerged during the 1990s as one of Ireland's premier traditional bands. 

Donavan - Thursday 16th 8:30pm SOLD OUT The 1960s folk singer/songwriter Donavan is coming to St Ives. With support from Kirsty McGee. 

The Imagined Village - Friday 17th 8:30pm £25 A popular live show featured at lots of festivals around the UK and Europe. 

Paco Pena - Saturday 18th 8:30pm £20 Flamenco guitar at its best.

Kila - Sunday 19th 8:30pm £20 A superb Irish folk/world music band.

The Fishermans Friends - Monday 20th 8pm SOLD OUT.  An array of sea shanties.

Mousehole Male Voice Choir - Wednesday 22nd 8pm £7.50 The choir has an impressive repertoire and have toured across the world.

Robin Trower Band and Hamsters - Thursday 23rd 8:30pm £20

The Beat and John Otway - Friday 24th 8:30pm £15 The Beat fuse ska, pop, reggae, punk rock and soul with special guest John Otway. 

For Those About To Rock - Saturday 25th 8pm £16 The UK's leading high energy rock show featuring Live Wire, ACDC, and Limehouse Lizzy. 

St Ives Art Club (Our pick) 

Edgar Macias Quintet Tuesday 21st 8:30pm £12 A five piece band that combines different jazz styles and rhythms from funk to South American. 

Ken Nicol and Phil Cool Saturday 25th 8:30pm £12 adv. Phil Cool, comedian and impressionist teams up with Ken Nicol guitar virtuoso of Steeleye Span to produce a two hour show full of music and laughs. 

Arts and Literature (Our Pick) 

Bernard Leach - open daily 10am to 4:30pm

Tom Cross Retrospective - Open Monday to Saturday 10am - 6pm at Belgrave Gallery. 

Kiln Opening - Sunday 19th, Leach Pottery 12-2pm. 

Late at Tate St Ives - Friday 24th Tate St Ives. 7pm-9pm A chance to visit the current exhibitions for free. 

Workshops (Our Pick)

Feltmaking - Friday 17th, St Ives Library. With local Jo McIntosh, all ages welcome and materials provided. £5. 

Drop-in Beginners' Oil Painting 14th and 21st Starting with some basic colour theory and colour mixing exercises, this an ideal introduction to this popular medium. 

Films (Our Pick)

Toy Story - Saturday 18th 4pm St Ives Art Club. £3

Hairspray - Saturday 18th, Porthmeor Beach, 8:15 Tate St Ives presents a unique screening on the beach of this cult family classic. 

 

 

Surfing and hanging

The Sail Lofts has been busy this week with bookings flying in and a change of scene in some of the apartments. Whilst we are busy changing art, it is nothing compared to the scale of the rehanging at the Tate St Ives as they prepare for the new Dexter Dalwood exhibition opening on the 23rd January. 


New artwork has been added to many of our apartments, with some new pieces of work from Andrew Garner and additional pieces from Sonya Walters a local St Ives artist. Andrews work is very contemporary and his latest works, entitled ‘Passage’, reflect the layers in the stages of life.

It has been a good week of surf too, I've made it into the water a few times and feeling very jealous of those surfing Porthmeor today, 2-3ft and clean with a light offshore! Luckily the swell is going to keep rolling in we should be able to find a wave for a while yet. The winds are going to become a little more tricky, with North Westerlies forecast, possibly some South coast days?

For those who want to fly down to Cornwall for a bargain holiday, AirSouthWest are offering flights at £29, superb value!


We were interested to find out today too that not only are we five star but we have the Gold Award, which means we are at the very top of self catering holidays!

We still have great offers for breaks, so visit our website for more information and to take advantage of up to 50% off.