 For the first time, Newlyn is set to have a festival (October 11th
–14th) celebrating the work of artists, writers and performers who live
or work primarily in the village. The organisers’ aim is to celebrate
the work of resident creative professionals and the large number of
talented amateurs of all ages who will in the future be making a
growing contribution to the economic and social life of the community.
Thanks to the support of Penwith District Council and SW Arts, we are also able to mount an outdoor spectacle devised and flown by Penzance-based “SkyLarks”: a giant flying sculpture rising from the Gwavas playing field that will can be viewed not only in the harbour but right across Mount’s Bay. This ties in with the Festival’s theme, “Writing in the Air”. Live music for this event will be provided by the “Bombrassa” marching band.
BOMBRASSA
Bombrassa means in Cornish (roughly) “a big wind”. Their music first emerged from the Kneehigh Theatre’s highly acclaimed “An Old Man with Enormous Wings” show staged on Hayle’s  South Quay in 2005. Composers Jim Carey and Adrian Freedman were then commissioned to assemble a large ensemble to perform new music for a winter entertainment spectacular at the Eden Project, with the brief that the band had to be completely mobile and loud enough to play without a sound system. Bombrassa- up to nine assorted brass and two drummers- was the result. The band has since wowed spectators at Penzance’s Mazey Day two years running, and proved a hit at this summer’s Port Elliot literary festival. By happy coincidence, several members of Bombrassa live in Newlyn.
A TALE OF TWO BOATS
Another theme for the weekend could be described as  “A Tale of Two Boats” Starting on the morning of Friday 12th, John Lambourn will launch his restored sailing lugger, the “Ripple”, into the harbour down the slipway adjacent to the RNLI boatshed. After she’s been floated off her trailer by the rising tide, she’ll proceed to mooring at the Old Quay.
On Saturday midday, “Bombrassa” will lead people down to the berth in musical fashion to celebrate this; and at 4.30pm on Sunday 14th the Methodist minister, the rev. Julyan Drew, will bless the boat accompanied by the Male Choir. This echoes the events of seventy years ago exactly when the MFV “Rosebud” set sail to London as part of the campaign of 1937-8 to prevent the demolition of fishermen’s cottages by Penzance Council.
From Saturday 6th Oct onwards, the Trinity Methodist Centre’s main hall will be the site of an exhibition of photos & memorabilia relating to The Rosebud mounted by local historian Glyn Richards.
NEWLYN CONTEMPORARY
The new Trinity community centre on Chywoone Hill has been pivotal in mounting the festival; it is hosting some of our main exhibitions, performances and open workshops, and we cannot stress enough how important the support of Julyan and Jeremy Drew has been in realising what we hope will be a varied and exciting weekend. We would particularly like to thank them for enabling us to stage Newlyn Contemporary - an open exhibition of the work of Newlyn’s resident artists- in the lower hall from Saturday 13th- to Sunday 14th.
THEATRE, JAZZ, EXHIBITIONS, DISPLAYS
Other live events include a concert by the Newlyn Male Choir; a rehearsed reading of Yasmina Reza’s “Art” by Phil Bowen, Anthony Frost & Bob Devereaux; a gig by some of Cornwall’s leading Jazz musicians, including Newlyn-based guitarist and saxophonist Alan Thompson & Marc Hadley; Dance performances by young people from Newlyn & Penzance; and Newlyn Unplugged an open mike show for performers up to age 20 in The Studio (Newlyn Art Gallery extension, 1st floor.)
The Newlyn Gallery’s NSA show will also be previewing on the evening of Friday 12th October, and on the morning of Saturday 13th its education department are staging The Big Draw, an open art event in which participants are invited to try their hand at creating new work inspired by local views and heritage: we would like to acknowledge the help & support given by Blair Todd and Claire Lloyd from NAG. The village hall (St Peters, Newlyn Combe) will play host to a show of work by local photographers and the Rover car showroom (Tolcarne Motors) will have sculpture on display.
There will also be a poetry event led by Angela Stoner at Trereife House (Newlyn Combe) at 2.30pm on Sunday 13th. Individual performers (singers, actors, poets, storytellers, street artists) are still coming forward to contribute, and there are rumours of short poems appearing on washing lines throughout the village. Look out for Writing in the Air!
Printed programmes available free in the Newlyn Art Gallery foyer New Rd, Newlyn and other local shops.
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