Try Cornish wrestling and archery at Penryn heritage festival

Fancy having a go at a sport your ancestors might have wrestled in a field for, five hundred years ago? A Cornish heritage festival near Penryn later this month is giving people the chance to find out.

📷Credit: Cornwall Heritage Trust

What’s on throughout the day

Awenek! The Great Cornish Heritage Festival returns to Enys Gardens on Saturday 12 September, and this year visitors get to do more than just watch. Alongside the usual living history and craft demonstrations, three hands-on activities are running throughout the day for anyone who fancies a go.

Maid for Archery is running archery and axe throwing sessions. Cornwall Shinty Club will be on hand with shinty, the Celtic cousin of hurling and an ancestor of both hockey and golf. And the Cornish Wrestling Association is bringing Cornwall’s own martial art to the gardens, a sport with roots going back centuries and its own distinct rules and grips.

Beyond the three headline activities, the wider festival covers Cornish wrestling and weapons displays, prehistoric crafts and flint knapping, blacksmithing, weaving, pottery, woodturning and stone carving, plus mining displays, archaeology and storytelling from experts and craftspeople. There are children’s trail activities, games, puppetry and creative workshops too, and food and drink on site including Cornish pasties, scotch eggs, cakes, coffee and ice cream.

📷Credit: Cornwall Heritage Trust

Tickets and prices

Under-18s go free. Early bird advance tickets are on sale now, with Cornwall Heritage Trust and Enys Gardens members paying £7.50 and non-member adults £12.50. Prices rise on the door to £12.50 for members and £17.50 for non-members, so booking ahead is the cheaper option. Most activities, including the archery, shinty and wrestling sessions, are included in the ticket price, with a small number of optional paid workshops bookable on the day for anyone who wants to learn a traditional skill for themselves.

Cornwall Heritage Trust says the early bird saver tickets sold out quickly last year, so anyone keen on the £7.50 or £12.50 rate is being encouraged not to leave it too late. All proceeds from the festival go towards the trust’s work keeping Cornish heritage alive for future generations.

📷Credit: Cornwall Heritage Trust

Getting there

Awenek! runs from 10am to 5pm at Enys Gardens, St Gluvius, near Penryn, TR10 9LB. Well-behaved dogs on leads are welcome, and children must be accompanied throughout the festival.

The day also includes guided tours of Enys House itself, led by local historian Joss Campbell, taking in the Drawing Room, Library and Dining Room across four 40-minute slots. Those tours are pay-as-you-feel and booked separately from festival entry, with proceeds split between Cornwall Heritage Trust and Enys House.

📷Credit: Cornwall Heritage Trust