Short answer: 12-26 September 2026, across venues throughout St Ives. Two weeks of music, art, exhibitions and talks, much of it free. The practical advice that matters most: use the park and ride, because the town is busier than usual and St Ives parking is difficult at the best of times.
The St Ives September Festival has run since 1978 and is one of the fixtures of Cornwall's autumn calendar. Two weeks of music, art, poetry, exhibitions, walks and talks spread across venues throughout the town.
12 to 26 September 2026. Much of the programme is free, with ticket prices varying for the individual events. Check the official festival programme for the current line-up and booking, as it changes year to year.
St Ives is difficult to drive into on an ordinary day. During the festival it's busier, and the town's streets were built long before cars.
Use the park and ride at Lelant Saltings. The branch line runs along the coast into St Ives with genuinely good views and drops you centrally — you skip the narrow streets and the parking entirely. Check the last train back if you're staying for an evening event, because the branch line doesn't run late.
If you must drive in, Trenwith is the largest town car park and has its own bus link down into town.
The light is the reason painters settled here, and September light is some of the best of the year — lower and clearer than midsummer. The beaches are quieter than August but the sea is at its warmest, which catches people out in a good way.
St Ives restaurants are small and the festival fills them. Book rather than hoping, particularly for evenings. Porthminster Kitchen and Silco on the wharf are both well regarded; Brine does brunch and oysters with harbour views but closes Mondays and Tuesdays.
For something quicker between events, Olives Cafe near Island Square is away from the busiest streets and reliably good.
A lot of the festival is indoors, which is the point of an autumn festival. Beyond it, Tate St Ives and the Barbara Hepworth Museum are both open and both within a few minutes' walk of most venues.
Genuinely bold in St Ives, and they will take food from your hand. Eat undercover or with your back to a wall — this is not a joke locally.
Check the official festival website for the current programme, venues and ticketing. Individual event times and locations change, and some sell out.
See the full St Ives guide, filtered by who's with you.
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