AberFest

AberFest is a Celtic cultural festival celebrating all things Cornish and Breton that takes place every second year in Cornwall, England, UK, around Easter. The AberFest Festival alternates with the Breizh – Kernow Festival which is held in Brandivy or Bignan in Brittany, alternating between those two Breton locations.

Both festivals are unusual in that the main focus of the events is on families and individuals from one country staying with families and individuals from the other, against a wide background of cultural activities.

An AberFest was last held at Easter 2014. The next AberFest will be 25 to 28 March 2016.

Background

Cornwall and Brittany have Celtic links going back centuries and have closely related Celtic languages and many other traditions that are practised in both countries. Both AberFest and the Breizh – Kernow Festival celebrate these cultures in their traditional and more recent forms.

5th–7th centuries saw a mass emigration of Cornish people to "Armorica." These people were to become the Breton people of modern Brittany. Their language was the Brythonic Celtic language that was to become Breton language (Breizhoneg) in Brittany, the Cornish language (Kernewek) in Cornwall and the Welsh language (Cymraeg) in Wales. Although they are separate languages today, they remain closely related.