Montol Festival

The festival spans several days,[2] but the main events are held on the traditional date of the feast of St Thomas the Apostle, usually 21 December, which always coincides with the winter solstice.

[4] The festival centres around Montol Eve (21 December) and several revived traditions of West Cornwall including, most predominantly, guise dancing.

[10] The Lord of Misrule leads the main processions and has certain honorary functions, although there is no historical basis for this part of the event prior to 2007.

A. K. Hamilton Jenkin in his book Cornish Homes and Customs describes the Guise dance processions and performances 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".

The girls were no less magnificently attired with steeple crowned hats, stiff bodied gowns, bag skirts or trains and ruffles hanging from their elbows.The festival often includes community-oriented events such as public music, a series of workshops dedicated to the making of masks and costumes so people can join in with guise parades,[1] community carol services, and a ceilidh.