The fun starts Thursday…

The tents are rising, the festoon is going up - there’s not long to go now until the festival. We open our gates Thursday 27th July at midday, and once you’ve bagged a camping pitch, there are things to see and do from the get-go.

The Workshop Barn will be a hive of activity, with terrarium-making, construction of bee-hotels, cheese and cider tasting with Ciderbox, Astronomy Adventures and more. Caught by the River will be holding their annual Pop & Nature Quiz, hosted by quizmaster extraordinaire, Roy Wilkinson, and the brilliant Orielles and H. Hawkline (and more!) will be playing there too. Over in the Church, we have one of our musical highlights, singer songwriter Karen Elson. And in Ace of Clubs we have William the Conqueror, Anti Matador and Aileen Wilkie. And there’s massages, hot tubs and meditation over at Lark’s Haven to help you rest and revive before the festival really gets going.

A reminder: as we’re now sold out, there won’t be any tickets on the gate.

Download the timetable

Start planning your weekend by downloading our printable schedule and site map.

Buy a printed programme

But of course, a pdf is no substitute for the full papery deal. Buy a beautiful paper programme on site at the Information Tent.

Read this…

There’s some very important information here. Please make sure you’ve read it before you arrive.

Getting to the festival

You’ll find directions for travelling by bus, train, on foot or by car here. The Pedestrian Gate is on Church Street (B3249), three minutes walk away from the nearest train station which is St Germans.

By Car
If you are using sat nav or a web map, the nearest postcode for the main gate is PL12 5BQ. If you’ve forgotten to buy a vehicle pass, it’s not too late: you can buy one on the gate or online. Please do not park in the village - it blocks emergency vehicles, and the festival car park is much closer to the site.

Liftshares
Offer your empty car seats to others on goCarShare: it’s a green, fun and good value way to get to Port Eliot. It’s built around Facebook; so you can login quickly and look at people’s profiles before deciding whether you would like to travel with them. You can add a car share request HERE.

And your soundtrack for the journey down…

Our 2017 Port Eliot playlist. Turn it up loud.

If you’re bringing under 18s…

The festival is an amazing place to explore at whatever age, with music, comedy, workshops and spectacles to experience in a safe environment.

Our bars will be operating a strict challenge 25 policy, and we ask that you please help us enforce this by keeping an eye on your teenagers and not providing them with alcohol. Instances of underage drinking will have serious implications on our licence, but we also want to make sure teenagers always have a positive experience, rather than a potentially negative one.

The place to be for teenagers is Pulse, which is all about participation. It’s open from 11am to midnight and has a snack bar, DJs, table football and tennis, as well as a packed programme of performances and workshops, all for free. There are Bhangra dance lessons with Indian Man Jay Singh, Kate Dimbleby talking about women in the music biz, and a lesson on how to get your music on the radio with songwriter Crispin Hunt, as well as jam sessions and instrument lessons for beginners.

Keepsakes

Get yourself a little piece of Port Eliot 2017 to remind you of a fabulous weekend. Souvineers will be available to buy from the Information Tent, including our Wardrobe Department Louise Gray tee, limited edition Nigel Waymouth posters (just 100 available!) reusable water bottle and keep-cups for hot drinks.

CAMP SHOP

Directly opposite the Camp Canteen on the conservatory lawn is Port Eliot Festival CAMP SHOP, selling a selection of premium camping supplies as well as essentials for your campsite and home. Stock includes woven Welsh blankets from Melin Tregwynt, air beds pumped and ready to go, Feuerhand hurricane camping lanterns, camping stoves, enamelware, guernsey sweaters…plus there will be a firebowl and log delivery service with festival crew on hand to deliver and set up a fire pit at your camp.

Help us banish disposable plastics! Bring a cup.

You can find out about what we’re doing to reduce our festival impacts here, and we need some help from you too:

  • Bring your own mugs to use at our tea and coffee shops - or purchase one of ours.
  • Bring your own reusable water bottle to fill up at the tap - or buy one from us. A percentage of proceeds from our reusable bottles will go to Rame Peninsula Beach Care to help fund their brilliant work keeping our beaches plastic-free.
  • Avoid bringing disposable plastic wherever possible.
  • Car share and use public transport to get to the festival. If you have space in your car, join goCarShare to offer other festival-goers a lift. Add a car share request HERE.
  • Donate to Energy Revolution to balance your travel emissions. 100% will be invested in renewable energy projects. You can make a one-off donation on their website.

Don’t forget to…

Bring unwanted clothes to swap

Make sure you bring an item of clothing for the Grand Port Eliot Clothes Swap. Help tackle the estimated 350,000 tonnes of useable clothing that goes to landfill each year in the UK, and walk away with a fab new addition to your wardrobe!

Bring your old PJs for the hush PJ Amnesty

Bring an old pair of pyjamas to the hush PJ Amnesty and you’ll be able to trade them in for a lovely new pair of hush PJs. That sounds like a pretty good deal to us. They’ve got lots of other brilliant workshops too, many newly added - read more here.

Pre-order a seafood hamper from Ostraca

Order your seafood hamper at FalOyster.com and it’ll be chilled and waiting for you on arrival. Find out more here.

How to sign up to workshops onsite

If you missed out on advance tickets for workshops, wellbeing or great outdoors activities, fear not - we keep some tickets back for every activity to sell at the festival. Here’s how to sign up on site:

  • Hole and Corner - Arrive at 11am each day to buy tickets for workshops happening that afternoon.
  • Caught By The River - Drop-in any time between 11am and 6pm to take part.
  • Idler Academy - Turn up at the Idler tent just before the workshops start to take part. For Frisbee tree golf, sign up in advance at the Idler Academy.
  • Rame Peninsula Beach Care - Drop-in any time between 11am and 4pm to take part.
  • Workshop Barn - Book tickets at the Workshop Barn Reception tent. Arrive from 10am to book tickets for that day.
  • Great Outdoors - Book tickets at the Workshop Barn Reception tent. Arrive from 10am to book tickets for that day.
  • Survival Wisdom Masterclasses - Book tickets at the Workshop Barn Reception, meet at the Survival Wisdom camp.
  • Creative Cultivator - Book tickets at the Creative Cultivator Tent. Arrive from 10am to book tickets for that day.
  • hush - Sign up, drop in and book tickets at the hush tent. Arrive from 10am to take part.
  • The Original Muckboot Company - Turn up at the Muckboot tent just before the workshops start to join in.
  • Black Cow Saloon - Turn up at the Black Cow Saloon just before the workshops start to join in.
  • Pulse - Turn up at the Pulse tent just before the workshops start to join in.
  • Lark’s Haven - For drop in events, turn up at the Lark’s Haven Reception 10 minutes before the activity begins. For ticketed events and massages, book your tickets at the Lark’s Haven Reception tent. You can also book a massage in advance here. Please arrive 10 minutes before your treatment.
  • Wardrobe Dept - buy tickets from Fashion Central in the Wardrobe Department (this includes Art School workshops) from 10am for workshops that day, or from 4pm for next day. For Anthropologie workshops turn up at the Anthropologie tent on Friday for the drop in Pompom and Leather Purse workshops and sign up for the workshops happening for the rest of the weekend (some free and some ticketed).