Category: Events

Arts on the beach at Watergate Bay

AOTB poster 2024 2

Head to Watergate Bay on the 15th and 16th June for a free family weekend of theatre, aerial performance, dance, music and craft workshops inspired by the ocean. Arts on the Beach 2024 is a celebration of creativity, community, imagination and ocean culture, set against the mesmerising backdrop of Watergate Bay.

Discover roaming sea giants and sailors’ love songs, mermaid’s tales and shoreside silent discos. This event is brought to you by the team behind Polo on the Beach
and the Watergate Bay events calendar.

Book a retreat in Watergate Bay to experience the weekend in full.

It’s set to be a lively, fun-filled and exciting weekend. Will Ashworth, Watergate Bay Hotel founder and executive director, said about the event:

“We’ve always loved creating inclusive events on the beach for our wider community, as well as visitors. Being able to provide this exciting new event for people to come along to for free means everyone can be part of something special.”

The itinerary

Find out more about the event here. We’ll see you on the beach!

Fancy a long weekend packed with oceanside entertainment and creativity? Book a self-catered retreat by the two miles of beach and enjoy two days of sea-themed, sustainably minded festivities.

What’s on this October half term in Cornwall

jamie johnson falmouth oyster festival 2018 jamiejohnson 011 copy

October half term is the perfect time to reconnect with family and nature alike in Cornwall. Blustery beaches, lively surf and a jam-packed schedule of family-friendly events make half-term week one not to miss. See what’s on for October half-term 2023 below.

Book your October half term stay with 20% off selected retreats.

Fancy staying in a holiday retreat with a log burner? Check out our cottages with a log burner for a cosy getaway.

Falmouth Oyster Festival

12th – 15th October 2023

This festival celebrates the start of the oyster dredging season. A five-day festival packed with cookery demonstrations by leading local chefs, the opportunity to sample the seafood, oysters, wine and local ale. Entertainment includes children’s shell painting, sea shanties, live music, oyster shucking competitions and the Falmouth working boat race.

Check out more of what Falmouth has to offer by staying in one of our bespoke retreats in Falmouth.

Image credit: Jamie Johnson

Eden Project Ice Skating

Starting 14 October 2023 until February 2024

Get your skates on, grab a penguin and hit the ice rink at the Eden Project. With music flooding the sound waves, ice sessions for all ages, and sugary hot chocolates to be enjoyed on the sidelines, a spin around the ice rink is a quintessential way to kick off the autumn and winter season in Cornwall.

Minack Theatre

Visit the Minack Theatre, Cornwall’s world famous open-air theatre which is carved into the granite cliff and set in glorious gardens overlooking the spectacular panorama of Porthcurno Bay.

There is a programme of live performances throughout the year, and outside of these performances you can visit the theatre, stand on stage, explore the glorious sub-tropical gardens full of exotic plants and discover the extraordinary story of how it was created.

This October half term, catch children’s shows The Lonely Lighthouse Keeper and Madagascar Junior.

Image credit: Minack Theatre

Hall for Cornwall

Perfect for a rainy day or evening out of the house, Truro’s Hall for Cornwall has an exciting variety of shows, with theatre performances, live music and interactive kids events throughout the year.  This October half term, the line up includes Tom Fletcher’s ‘There’s a Monster in your Show’, James Martin Live, The Manfreds Maximum Rhythm n Blues, alongside Toddler Time which is on every Tuesday morning until December.

‘Pirates’ at Falmouth Maritime Museum

Running until December 2024

Visit the Maritime museum in Falmouth for their latest major exhibition on Pirates! Explore how popular culture has shaped how we think of pirates today and dive beneath the surface to unearth the harsh and terrifying truth.

To find out, immerse yourself in the digital world of the Sea of Thieves game, land on Treasure Island, meet the man behind Long John Silver and dance a hornpipe with Horatio Pugwash before discovering the dark world of the real pirates of the Caribbean.

Discover adrenaline-pumping adventures and unforgettable experiences with Newquay’s wild activities.

Book your October half term stay with 20% off selected retreats.

Great Cornish Food Festival 2017

Beach Retreats heads to the annual Great Cornish Food Festival to sample its delicious delights.

Food, food and you guessed it, more food! Who wouldn’t love the Great Cornish Food Festival? Now on its 9th year, the festival is bigger and better than ever. Opening the show, was one of our favourite celebrity chefs, Nathan Outlaw.

Recently voted Best UK Restaurant by the Good Food Guide, you can imagine how excited we were to watch him cook and prepare a fish dish right in front of us. Below Nathan is preparing his mackerel salad.

Throughout the demo, Nathan gives the audience quick tips and tricks including how to make his garlic salad dressing. Don’t worry, if you weren’t there, here it is: (ingredients are free poured depending how much is needed)

4 parts olive oil
1 part red wine vinegar
Half a garlic clove
Handful of finely chopped parsley

After the demo it was time to check out the rest of the market.

With over 70 food and drink exhibitors, selling everything from pasties to peanut butter, from land and sea, and all produced in Cornwall, here are a few of our favourites, starting with the local bread makers.

One of our favourite stalls of the day had to be the Curds & Croust stand, tasting the new award-winning Miss Wenna Cornish Brie.

Cornish Sea Salt made an appearance, harvested fresh from the Atlantic Ocean, just 8 metres from its Salt House on the Lizard.

Ice cream, ice cream we all scream for ice cream…literally. With fantastic new flavours including candy floss, gingerbread, eton mess and cherry pie, we couldn’t resist a little taster.

For those with a sweet tooth, the Sisley’s & Crellow stand is the one for you. Locally made jams and chutneys in all kinds of flavours (psst strawberry was the best).

You may recognise the name of this next one from our previous blog ’24 hours in Port Isaac with the Nathan Outlaw experience’. Cornish Jack Cheese is favoured by Nathan Outlaw and used in most of his restaurants. And we can see/taste why.

And with so much food, we are in need of something Cornish and delicious to wash it down with. We loved the homemade pink lemonade from this quirky stand.

One for the Cider lovers…Cornish Orchards. Locally enthused at Westnorth Manor Farm near Liskeard.

Last but by no means least the award-winning Tarquins Gin. Tarquins won the title of Best Gin Worldwide at the San Fransico International Wine and Spirits competition in 2016. Now they have more exciting flavours and are stocked internationally.

The Great Cornish Food Festival is running 7-10 September 2017. Get yourself down there this weekend at Lemon Quay, Truro, Cornwall.

Book your Beach Retreats self-catering holiday now.

Aspall Polo on the Beach 2017

We’ll be down on the beach this coming weekend for Aspall Polo on the Beach 2017 so come and say hello and try our birds-eye virtual reality tour of Cornwall.

Visiting with a large group? Discover our large holiday homes perfect for big families or friend groups.

Here is our ‘everything you need to know’ guide for visiting.

When is it

The 10th anniversary happening takes place on May 19th, 20th and 21st. (Friday to Sunday).

What happens at Polo on the Beach?

The weekend focuses on the two matches which take place on the Friday and Saturday evenings, both at 6.30pm.  Events take place throughout the afternoons including Segway polo matches, Knights of Middle England jousting display, dance display and fireworks on the Friday night.

On Friday night an Asado BBQ takes place in the Beach Hut, followed by free music on the beach and a fireworks display at around 9.30pm.

On Saturday night, the beach party takes place with live music from local bands William The Conqueror and The Andy Quick Band, followed by headliners Molotov Jukebox. More about this ticketed event: https://www.watergatebay.co.uk/polo-on-the-beach/ . Sunday is a more relaxed family day where four-legged friends participate in the dog show and the RNLI will be on the beach.

Fancy staying in Watergate Bay? Check out our luxury holiday properties in Watergate Bay, Newquay.

Food and Drink

The Aspall beach bar, Jacquart champagne bar and Tarquin’s gin bar will be open from 11am each day, while there will be a range of street food stalls on the beach, as well as the Venus Beach Company.  The Beach Hut will be open too, but booking is strongly recommended.  Most of the stalls accept credit and debit cards.

Attending

It’s free to attend Polo on the Beach, while the Friday night Asado BBQ and Saturday night beach party are ticketed events.

There are no cash machines in Watergate Bay although many stalls accept credit and debit cards.

Parking is available in the field overlooking the bay at a cost £3.50 per day, from where you walk down the coast path to the beach.

Watergate Bay is dog friendly all year round, though on a lead for the weekend, especially around the pitch and food areas.

Public toilets are available across the road, with portable toilets in the extreme car park. There is a disabled toilet in The Beach Hut restaurant on the beach.

Don’t forget to share your photographs and tweets to #Poloonthebeach.

For the full timetable of events visit the official website – https://www.watergatebay.co.uk/polo/.

Interested in finding out more about Newquay? Discover what to do in and around Newquay.

Polo On The Beach, Cornwall

Don’t miss out on one of the best events in Cornwall!

On 5 and 6 July, Polo on The Beach returns to Watergate Bay with an action-packed weekend of ponies, segways and champagne.

Want to stay in a luxury holiday house with a view of the sea? Check out our cottages with sea views.

Now in its eighth year, Polo on the Beach is focused around the main Watergate Bay Trophy match on Saturday 5th July between Joules and First Great Western, teams made up of some of the country’s finest polo players.

Free to attend, there are three polo matches in all, starting with a ladies match on Saturday afternoon, followed by the Watergate Bay Trophy men’s match. The third match is on Sunday afternoon and is the hotly contested Cornwall vs Rest of the World.

The weekend is all about polo but there are also lots of other exciting events to entertain the crowds including polo demonstrations, a horse stunt show, polo pony relay races, Segway polo and live music, as well as a Champagne bar and The Beach Hut barbecue & bar on the beach.

Dive into the exciting world of alternative surf activities in Cornwall and discover new ways to enjoy the waves.

Check out the full event line up.

Saturday 5th July
12.00pm Veuve Clicquot Airstream Champagne bar, Beach Hut barbecue & bar open
1.30pm Segway demonstration
2.00pm An introduction to polo – rules and “how to play” demo
3.00pm The Stampede Stunt Company – horse display team
4.00pm Professional ladies polo match
5.15pm The Stampede Stunt Company
6.00pm Professional mens’ polo match between team Joules and team FGW
6.45pm Trophy presentations
7.00pm DJ set by ‘Billon’ on the beach until sunrise

Sunday 6th July
12.00pm Veuve Clicquot Airstream Champagne bar and Beach Hut barbecue & bar open
1.30pm Segway demonstration
2.00pm An introduction to polo – rules and “how to play” demo
2.45pm Polo pony relay challenge
3.45pm Segway polo match
4.30pm Cornwall vs Rest of the World polo match
5.15pm Trophy presentation

 

Fancy staying in Watergate Bay? Check out our luxury holiday properties in Watergate Bay, Newquay.

Pubs with Music and Comedy in Cornwall

driftwood spars

Fancy staying in a holiday retreat with a swimming pool? Check out our cottages with a swimming pool for a relaxing getaway.

The Driftwood Spars on the coast in St Agnes has a more traditional pub feel and has been putting on live music for almost 50 years. With everything from folk to reggae, the Driftwood Spars have hosted bands that went on to become household names, such as Reef and Feeder – so you may well be seeing the next big thing as you sip your pint. The food here has a good reputation, too – and they’ve even got their own microbrewery so real ale fans will be happy.

Check out more of St Agnes and explore our luxury St Agnes holiday cottages. 

Driftwood Spars, St Agnes

Driftwood Spars
Trevaunance Cove, St Agnes, Cornwall, TR5 0RT, Tel. 01872 552 428

 

Less formal still are Thursday evenings at the Bowgie Inn near Newquay. The weekly jam session is a lucky dip of style and quality, but you might just be treated to a real gem. It’s a venue that’s popular with locals and visitors alike; a pint at one of the garden tables overlooking Crantock beach always makes a good sundowner.

Bowgie Inn, Newquay

The Bowgie Inn
West Pentire, Crantock, Cornwall, TR8 5SE, Tel. 01637 830363

 

The Blue Bar, on the beach at Porthtowan, holds regular comedy nights throughout the year, usually on the last Thursday of the month. The acts can be edgy, so it’s definitely an over-18 door policy. The Blue Bar is relaxed and friendly, there’s a good menu, an even better view and tables outside if the weather is being kind.

Blue Bar, Porthtowan

Blue Bar
Eastcliff, Beach Road, Porthtowan, Cornwall, TR4 8AW, Tel. 01209 890 329

Looking for a fantastic restaurant in Cornwall? Check out some of our favourite restaurants with stunning sea views.