Cornwall children sing in Kernewek at Lys Kernow celebration

Songs, rhymes and stories in Kernewek rang out through Lys Kernow this week as children from across Cornwall came together to celebrate the Cornish language. And four schools went home with a new award to show for it.

Ten schools gather for Go Cornish Celebration

Schoolchildren from across Cornwall came together to celebrate Kernewek during a special event held as part of Speak Cornish Week.

Children from 10 schools gathered at Lys Kernow, also known as New County Hall, on Thursday, June 25 for a Go Cornish Celebration. They performed songs, rhymes and stories in Kernewek during the colourful event.

The celebration was organised by Cornwall Council’s Fifth Nation Members’ Working Group to showcase the impact of Kernewek in schools and communities across the county. Four of the schools also received their Bronze Go Cornish award on the day.

A language alive in Cornwall’s schools

The event sits within a much bigger picture. Over 6,000 children from 30 schools are now having fun with the Cornish language through the Go Cornish programme, which is commissioned by Cornwall Council and delivered by Golden Tree Productions.

Councillor Hilary Frank, Cabinet member with responsibility for Children, Schools and Families at Cornwall Council, said: “It’s wonderful to see these young people celebrating our language and having so much fun with it.

“Kernewek is part of Cornwall’s distinct cultural identity, and part of what makes it such a special place to learn and live.

“When children learn even a little of the language, they get a deeper understanding of the place they call home and the generations who came before them.”

A bigger year for Kernewek

The celebration comes during a notable period for the language itself. Councillor Sarah Preece, cabinet member with responsibility for Culture and Cornish Language at Cornwall Council, said: “Kernewek is a beautiful and expressive language, and it gives us a strong feeling of belonging and connection, to Cornwall’s history and to one another.

“This year we secured Part III recognition under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, and we are currently finalising our Cornish Language Strategy, which will provide us with a framework to promote and protect the language over the next ten years.

“As we can see from the wonderful performances today, the language is very much alive and definitely worth celebrating both during Speak Cornish Week and all year round.”

Will Coleman, founder and artistic director of Golden Tree Productions, summed up the day in both Kernewek and English: “Hemma yw an ‘Go Cornish’ tra poran, polsow byghan saw gallosek, pan dheu Kernewek yn few y’n bewnans a dus. This is exactly what Go Cornish is about, those small, powerful moments where Kernewek comes alive in people’s everyday lives.

“Today really shows the appetite that’s there across Cornwall to celebrate our language and pass it on, especially to the next generation.

“It doesn’t have to be complicated, a few words, a song, a shared experience, that’s how a living language grows stronger, and that’s what we’re seeing happening right now.”