Plans for Porthleven Arts Festival in September are going ahead, it was announced today.

Held over 10 days in 10 venues, the Porthleven Art Festival will be an annual celebration of art from dance and drama to painting and film - from 25th Sept – 3rd Oct.

The Festival will be directed by Kelvin Batt, owner of the Mussel Shoal and co-creator of the Masked Ball Festival.

Kelvin said:

"Wow, after all this it's going to be great to put an arts festival on in Porthleven. I know Hannabeth, Alec, Suz and myself are really excited about the prospect and about just how much enthusiasm there is in the community for helping out and joining in."

Events planned so far include a film festival including a floating screen in the harbour with evening screenings showcasing local films; a mermaid day celebrating sea swimming, mermaid myth, magic and art; a series of literary talks and poetry, performances and events; classical music concerts; celebrations of Porthleven's heritage, a postcard auction and an en plain air outdoor painting competition.

The Festival will also welcome multiple award winning physical theatre & performance-parkour, group Prodigal UPG to the harbour for a high-energy physical theatre and free-running parkour performance. They'll also be running workshops.

There will also be a retrospective of Porthleven artist Jim Tinley, featuring his works and telling his story.

Porthleven Arts Co-ordinator, Hannabeth Johnson, added:

"We really hope other venues will get involved and include their own fringe events during the Festival, too and we're keen to hear from local businesses who want to organise their own events so we can include them in the programme. We hope the community of Porthleven will come together and support this event which should help boost our economy after what has been a really difficult time."

If you're a local artist or business with an idea for an event – contact: [email protected]