2026 Programme
Lowender Festival
thursday 15 – Sunday 18 October
Lowender Celtic Festival is back in 2026 with more opportunities for cultural exchange, dance and song!
Sign up to our enews to be the first to find out about ticket tiers, line up announcements and the 2026 programme.
thursday 15th OCToBER
Rose Cottage
- 18:00 – Yeth an Werin
Join us for a special pre-show Yeth an Werin, our friendly Cornish language conversation group with Sarah Buck and Emma Jenkin.
Grab dinner or drinks from 5pm and practice your Kernewek, Cornish language! Complete beginners are very welcome to come and hear Cornish spoken.
Buttermarket
- 19:00 – Sundown Session
with folk musician and poet, Ben Banford.
Redruth Wesley
- 19:30 – Anna Anise Album Launch pre-festival special
Featuring all the musicians who played on Anna’s debut bilingual Cornish/English album, Aneth. Aneth means ‘marvel’ or ‘wonder’ in Cornish.
Support comes from the amazing Salt & Sky.
friday 16th OCToBER
Redruth Library
- 11:00 – 12:00 – Rhyme Time
- Join Molly Biscoe in Redruth Library for a special Lowender edition of Rhyme Time for children 0 – 5yrs with songs in Cornish and songs the Cornish love to sing
Redruth Community Centre
- Boos hag Ilow / Food and Music
- 18:30 – 19:15 – Music with Kessenyan
Evening Dance and Music / Dons hag Ilow Gorthugher (Main Hall)
- 19:00 – Nos Lowen Cornish Dance Workshop
- 19.30 – Nos Lowen Cornish Dance with Dalla Duo
- 20:30 – Floor spot with Pol Hodge
- 21:00 – Scottish Ceilidh with caller Kate Smith from Ceilidh Cornwall
- 22:00 – Manx floor spot with Skeddan Jiarg
- 22:30 – Manx Ceilidh with Scran
Acoustic Music Sessions / Rakka Ilow Acoustek (Murdoch Bar)
- Enjoy an informal acoustic music session, bring your instruments and singing voices or just enjoy the atmosphere.
Redruth Wesley
- 19:30 – Michael McGoldrick & Tim Edy
- Manchester born flutes, whistles and uillean pipes maestro Michael McGoldrick teams up with Tim Edey, one of the world’s finest melodeon and guitar players.
- Support comes from the excellent Toby & Jen Kessell.
Redruth Buttermarket
- Free event!
- 20:00 – DJ No-Sight Stu Celtic Takeover
- Groove to Celtic sounds.
saturday 17th OCTOBER
Redruth Buttermarket &
Market Hall
- Free events!
10:00 – 16:00 – Courtyard
- Music, dance, wrestling displays, family ceilidh
10:00 – 14:00 – Market Hall
- Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo
REDRUTH Community Centre
- 10:00 – 14:00 – Craft Fair & Family Activities
- Free events!
Workshops / Hweljiow (Main Hall)
15:00 – 16:30 – Irish Set Dance Workshop
17:00 – 18:30 – Breton Dance Workshop
- Talk / Areth (Red Room / Stevel Rudh)
- 15:00 – 16:30 – Talk about Cornish Pub songs with Hilary Coleman & Sally Burley
- Shout / Garm (Murdoch Bar)
- 16:30 – 18:00 – Shout with the Red River Singers
Evening Dance and Music / Dons hag Ilow Gorthugher (Main Hall)
- 19.30 – Irish Ceili with Kevin & Carol Monaghan
- 20:30 – Floor spot
- 21:00 – Fest Noz with Duo Landat Moisson
- 22:00 – Floor spot
- 22:30 – Ginger’s Remix : Reels & Heels – a troyl with a twist from the sweetest Queen in town. Ginger from Redruth’s famous Drag Queen Diner joins Splann for an epic covers‑ceilidh guaranteed to ‘splanna’ (splanna means to ‘shine’ in Cornish).
Acoustic Music Session / Rakka Ilow Acoustek (Murdoch Bar)
- Enjoy an informal acoustic music session, bring your instruments and singing voices or just enjoy the atmosphere.
THE LADDER
Workshops / Hweljiow
- 10:30 – 12:00 – Accompaniment Workshop
- with Tim Edey on guitar
10:30 – 12:00 – Whistle Workshop
- with Michael McGoldrick on whistles
13:00 – 14:00 – Book Launch
- with Taylor Strickland
- Free event!
- Join us for the launch of a book of poetry by C18th Scottish Gaelic poet, Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair (Gaelic tutor to Charles Edward Stuart, popularly known as ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’), newly translated into English by Taylor Strickland.
- Drinks & nibbles.
14:30 – 16:30 – Celtic Languages in Translation
- A unique opportunity to experience readings of literature written in each of the Celtic languages – Breton, Welsh, Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic, Manx and Cornish – in both their original languages and in English literary translations. Read by professional translators from each of the Celtic nations who will be visiting the festival this year.
17:00 – 19:00 – Cornwall – a Sense of Place
- Join Tir ha Tavas (Dee & Dave Brotherton) and guest reader, Helen Musser on a journey in music, words and images around this beautiful world at the end of the land.
Redruth Library
Free event!
- 11:00 – 12:00 – Rath a’n Fordh Veur – The Highway Rat
- Join Elizabeth Ellis for a reading of Rath a’n Fordh Veur, the Cornish translation of The Highway Rat by Julia Donaldson.
Kressen KERNOW
Free event!
- 14:00 – 15:15 – Author talk – A Cornish Bestiary with Luke Thompson
- A celebration of the animals of Cornwall with a talk from local author, Luke Thompson. Luke’s new book is a compendium of Cornwall’s most curious creatures from folklore, natural history, song, literature, hagiography and the news, featuring beasts real, imagined, suspected, rumoured, feared and hoaxed.
REDRUTH WESLEY CHURCH
- 14:00 – Concert / Kescan with Neear Nesañ, Duo Landat Moisson & The Twin Tides
- 19:30 – Concert / Kescan with Mari Mathias supported by Isaac I. Ockenden, curated by Stone Club
sunday 18th OCTOBER
redruth Community Centre
- Workshops / Hweljiow
- 10:00 – 11:30 – Irish Sets Workshop (Main Hall)
- with Kevin & Carol Monaghan
10.00 – 11.30 – Cornish & Breton Language Taster (Blue Room / Stevel Glas)
A chance to pick up or practice Cornish & Breton with Cornwall’s Pol Hodge & Brittany’s Lors Landat.
14.00 – 16.30 – Exploring Cornish and Welsh Tunes (Red Room / Stevel Rudh)
with Tommie & Christine
10.00 – 14.00 | Rose Cottage
Conference / Keskussulyans
Join artists and music industry progressionals for discussion and networking.
Join artists and music industry progressionals for discussion and networking.
10.00 – 11.30 | Rose Cottage
Celtic Music & Minority Language Song
Celtic Music & Minority Language Song
Conference / Keskussulyans
With Mari Mathias (Wales), David Kilgallon (Isle of Man) and Anna Anise (Cornwall). A conversation exploring releasing and touring new work and building careers in the world of Celctic music and minority language song.
With Mari Mathias (Wales), David Kilgallon (Isle of Man) and Anna Anise (Cornwall). A conversation exploring releasing and touring new work and building careers in the world of Celctic music and minority language song.
12.00 – 14.00 | Rose Cottage
New Music Round Table
New Music Round Table
Conference / Keskussulyans
An open, facilitate discussion on releasing new music, audience development, digital tools, artist identity, funding and sustainable careers. Featuring gues speaker Rose Cook, sharing insights from Lowender’s recent digital music research.
Food and refreshments available from Rose Cottage throughout the event.
An open, facilitate discussion on releasing new music, audience development, digital tools, artist identity, funding and sustainable careers. Featuring gues speaker Rose Cook, sharing insights from Lowender’s recent digital music research.
Food and refreshments available from Rose Cottage throughout the event.
12:00 – 13:00 – Callers’ Chat (Main Hall)
Whether you’re an experienced caller or just starting out, come along to this informal callers’ chat hosted by Kate Smith from Ceilidh Cornwall. A chance to connect, share experiences, and exchange ideas. The Community Centre snack bar will be open for hot and cold drinks and light snacks. There is no charge for this event.
13:30 – 15:30 – Youth Tune Swap – Cornish / Manx (Main Hall)
Cornwall Youth Folk Ensemble mash up with Scran
Evening Dance and Music / Dons hag Ilow Gorthugher
19:30 – 21:00 – Survivors’ Ceilidh / Troyl Duryoryon (Main Hall)
For those who have made it to the bitter end – we salute you! A last chance to dance out Lowender!
Acoustic Session (Murdoch Bar)
Enjoy an informal acoustic music session, bring your instruments and singing voices or just enjoy the atmosphere.
Wesleyan Buildings: Jubilee Hall
- Free event!
10:30 – Celtic Service / Gonis Keltek
A special Celtic service held by Redruth Methodist Church. All welcome.
REDRUTH WESLEY CHURCH
12:30 – 13:30 Mike O’Connor Music Talk
on the making of Lost Voices of the Moor.
14:30 – 16:00 – The Lost Voices of the Moor
