Everything about Montol Festival totally explained
The Montol Festival is an annual arts and community festival in
Penzance,
Cornwall held between the 14th and 22nd of December each year. The festival is a revival or reinterpretation of many of the traditional
Cornish midwinter traditions & Christmas traditions formerly practiced in and around the Penzance area and is organised by the same team as the modern
Golowan Festival.
Origin of the word Montol
Edward Lhuyd in his 1700 MSS of vocabulary the
Cornish language states that Montol means
Winter Solstice. however he later translates the word as balance (in
latin Trutina, in
Kernewek Kemmyn, Mantol). The organisers of the festival use both interpretations of the word, primarilly the festival is a celebration of the Cornish midwinter and a balance to the Midsummer Golowan celebrations.
Revived customs
At the very core of the festival are several of the revived customs of the West Cornwall area including, Penglaz the Penzance 'Obby 'Oss, described by many antiquarians as being present at the midwinter celebrations in Penzance at the turn of the 18th century as well as the
St John the Baptist celebrations at
Midsummer,
Guise dancing, the Cornish candle dance and the performance of traditional mummers plays such as
St George and the Turkish Knight. Cornish
Christmas carols also feature heavily during the festivities.
Historical basis for revived customs
The historical basis for many of the customs described above are taken from the texts of notable Cornish antiquarians. AK Hamilton Jenkin in his book Cornish homes and customs describes the festival of 1831 as "like an Italian carnival" and further noted that "everyone including the rich and the great came masked and disguised on to the streets".
A detailed description of the Penzance Guise dancers is given by William Bottrell in his book Traditions and hearthside stories of West Cornwall,
Community events
During the festival there are a series of workshops dedicated to the making of
Lanterns which are used in a large lantern parade on 21 December in Penzance Town Centre followed by the lighting of a beacon at
Lescudjack Hill Fort one of the most ancient sites in the Penzance parish.
See also
External links
Origin of the word Montol from the Teer Ha Tavaz website (archived version)
Official website of the Montol festival
Montol factfile from the Cornishman NewspaperFurther Information
Get more info on 'Montol Festival'.
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