Short answer: The Fowey Festival, now called the du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival, runs 7 to 15 May 2027 and marks 30 years since the first one. The programme is not published yet. Past festivals have had author talks, walks, an Art Trail and Secret Gardens. Tickets are sold on the festival website, so join the newsletter and book a room early.
The Fowey Festival is a nine-day festival of books, talks, walks and art in the town where Daphne du Maurier lived and wrote. The 2027 dates are announced, and this edition marks 30 years since the first festival, so it is worth planning early.
The festival runs from 7 to 15 May 2027, according to the official festival website. That is Friday to Saturday the following week. The festival has said the 2027 edition marks the 30th anniversary of the first one. Daphne's birthday, 13 May, has traditionally been part of the dates.
The first festival took place in May 1997 as the Daphne du Maurier Festival of Arts and Literature, marking 90 years since her birth. It describes itself as Cornwall's first, and now longest-running, literary festival. It was renamed the Fowey Festival of Arts and Literature in 2016, and in November 2024 it became the du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival. You will see all of those names online, but they are the same festival.
The 2027 programme has not been published. Past festivals have included:
Since 2024 the programme has included events that connect to du Maurier herself. Her best-known books include Rebecca and Frenchman's Creek, and she lived at Ferryside in Bodinnick, just across the river from Fowey.
Events are spread around the town rather than in a single festival village. Earlier editions were based at a festival village beyond Fowey Hall Hotel, but the festival now uses various venues, including Fowey Town Hall for some events. Check each event listing for its venue.
Tickets are sold through the festival website. For a 2026 talk, they went on sale from 10am on 7 September, which suggests events are released in batches. No 2027 booking date is published yet. You can sign up for the festival's quarterly newsletter, and the festival also runs Friends memberships. Popular author events sell out, so subscribe early.
Fowey is small, with steep streets and limited parking, and May is already busy. Read our Fowey parking guide before you go. Allow extra time on festival days. Our limited mobility guide is useful if hills are a worry.
Our Fowey town page lists more, and a couple's day in Fowey is useful for quieter days either side of the festival.
There is a schools outreach programme and the Art Trail and Secret Gardens are easy to dip in and out of, but most of the headline events are talks aimed at adults. Check each listing for age guidance.
The festival's travel page (which is not dated, so check it for 2027) lists these options.
Par is the nearest mainline station, and not every train stops there, so check your service. Our Fowey parking guide covers prices and what fills first. If you stay in Polruan, the ferry avoids driving altogether.
It is a hill town, so plan the route as well as the ticket. Fowey's tourism accessibility page describes steep, narrow roads, many steps and few pavements.
The festival has not published venue-by-venue access notes for 2027, so ask the organisers before you book a ticketed talk. Our limited mobility guide covers what works around town. A reviewer of Havener's on Town Quay, rated 4.6 from 1,248 Google reviews, said staff seated their wheelchair user near the accessible toilets, with easy access.
May is busy even without a festival, so book anywhere you want a table for, especially around a talk.
Both are on the waterfront, a short walk from the quay where the Polruan ferry lands. Because festival events are spread around town, pick somewhere between your talks rather than walking back to the car park.
For something quicker, see our best pasty in Fowey, best fish and chips in Fowey and best cream tea in Fowey guides. Daphne du Maurier events often run late in the afternoon, so check the programme for dinner timings once it is published.
7 to 15 May 2027, according to the official festival website.
It began in 1997 as the Daphne du Maurier Festival, became the Fowey Festival of Arts and Literature in 2016 and took its current name in November 2024.
Through the festival website, foweyfestival.com. No 2027 booking date is published yet.
In various venues around the town, including Fowey Town Hall for some events. Check each listing.
Parking is limited. Read our Fowey parking guide and consider arriving by train and bus or ferry.
The festival's travel page lists regular buses between St Austell, Par station and Fowey, plus a local minibus around town from 10am to 7pm. Check that the 2027 timetable matches.
Fowey is steep, with narrow roads and many steps. Caffa Mill car park is the gentlest approach, about a 10 minute mostly level walk into town.
Holders get three hours free in the short-stay car parks and six hours in the long-stay car parks, if the badge and time clock are displayed. Check the payment board.
Times, prices and dates are the businesses' and organisers' to change, so check before you travel. Spotted something we've got wrong? Tell us and we'll fix it.
See the full Fowey guide, filtered by who's with you.
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