Daphne Du Maurier Festival Fowey Cornwall

Holiday Cottages Cornwall invites you to join us for the 10th Daphne du Maurier Festival of Arts and Literature in May 2006. Not only will we provide you with superb accommodation in nearby Polperro, Looe and Mevagissey but also a variety of packages designed for you to get the most out of the festival.

The Festival, which runs from 11^th May to 20^th May 2006, is an entertaining 10 days of star names, guided walks, talks, drama, community events and free entertainment set in nearby Fowey.

There is a great buzz in Fowey during the festival with all the variety of entertainments including, music, talks, trips on the river, guided walks, music on the town quay, dramatic productions, all triggered as a memorial to Daphne du Maurier.

We are delighted to announce that guests appearing in the Festival Village this year will include:

Thursday 11 May:	Sue MacGregor; Jonathan Miller; Toyah Willcox.
Friday 12 May:	Hugo Vickers; Christopher Matthew; Kate Adie; Al Murray.
Saturday 13 May:	Janet Reibstein with Prof Helen Taylor; Pam Ayres The Drifters.
Sunday 14 May:	Michael Burrows; Germaine Greer; Anton Rogers and Elizabeth Garvie (A Celebration of Jane Austen).
Monday 15 May:	Kathryn Heyman, Kirsty Gunn and Prof Helen Taylor; Tom Petherick; Sophie Hannah; Liz Smith; Girl Talk (Claire Martin, Barb Jungr and Mari Wilson).
Tuesday 16 May:	Tim Hubbard and Jane Sleep; Kathy Lette; Tim Heald and Bishop Bill; Miles Kington; Sir David Frost.
Wednesday 17 May:	Keith Floyd; Rabbi Lionel Blue; Waterson:Carthy.
Thursday 18 May:	William Leith and Candida Crewe; Chris Blount; Shirley Williams; Short 'n' Curly (Bonnie Langford and Sandi Toksvig).
Friday 19 May:	Piers Dudgeon, Justine Picardie and Ella Westland; Bella Pollen; Tony Hawks; The Commitments.
Saturday 20 May:	Justine Picardie; Carole Drinkwater; Robin Hanbury-Tennison; King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys

There will be a wide range of community events in and around Fowey during the Festival, including concerts, plays and talks, as well as a full programme of guided walks and free entertainment on Town Quay.

If you would like to find out more about previous year’s events, visit the Daphne du Maurier website which attracts fans from across the globe.

The ancient fishing village of Polperro is the closest harbour along the coast and just six miles away from Fowey. During the Festival, will be organising transport for our guests to and from Fowey each day and this should be very useful and very special. Weather permitting, we are organising boats to take our guests from Polperro harbour right to Fowey harbour, a delightful journey of around half an hour. Alternatively, and on days when it is not advisable to go by sea, we will lay on transport from the Polperro Car Park to the Bodinick Ferry (right by Daphne du Maurier’s Home, Ferryside) where you can take the ferry across as a foot passenger. Anyone who has visited the Festival before will know that parking in Fowey is a nightmare and we are certain that a trip by boat will prove to be both relaxing and delightful.

For guests staying with us in Looe just 10 miles (or two harbours !) away, we will again organise transport by road or by boat on the same basis. Mevagissey, 15 miles away is also an ideal location, with a regular ferry running to Fowey.

It is important to note that many of the more popular events will get fully booked and availability on the day will be limited. As soon as the program is published we will contact confirmed guests for you to decide what events you would like go to but it is best to book your accommodation with us as early as possible so that we can make all the arrangements in good time. We will purchase tickets on your behalf, drop them at your cottage and take you to and from the event.

We are able to offer Daphne du Maurier packages at all times of the year and we will always configure individual packages to guest requirements. For the Festival, we are remaining as flexible as always, recognising that you may be visiting the Festival for a long weekend, midweek, all week or for all ten days! In all cases, we will be try hard to accommodate your requirements and configure a bespoke package that suits your needs.

As an example, a long weekend package for two staying at beautiful Compass Cottage from Friday 12^th May to Monday 15^th May would cost just £350 for two people including road transport to the festival and organization of event tickets. The cost of selected events would of course be additional.

We have properties that sleep up to 12 guests, so if you are in a larger party, we will be able to accommodate you. For example, the 5star rated Kirk House is a perfect location for a party of ten or if you are a Daphne du Maurier group, we have over 80 cottages in Cornwall and could accommodate over 200 people if required !

Each week on a Tuesday and Friday, guests of Holiday Cottages Cornwall can book on a Guided Daphne du Maurier walk organized by our activities partner, Active-8. Lynn Gould, an expert in guided walks and illustrated talks on Daphne du Maurier, will take you on a three hour guided walk finishing at a pub for lunch.

If you would like to know more about Daphne du Maurier and her connections to Cornwall, a visit to the Daphne du Maurier website will give you everything you need. Below we have highlighted some of the important facts about her life and work.

Daphne Du Maurier was born in London on 13th May 1907, the daughter Sir Gerald Du Maurier and granddaughter of caricaturist George Du Maurier.

Du Maurier's connection with Cornwall dates from to her childhood and to happy family holidays in Cornwall – like so many of us !! Her love for Cornwall resulted in her buying a second home, Ferryside, at Bodinnick where she stayed often.

Her first book, The Loving Spirit, was published in 1931. Her future husband, taken by the book, sailed to Fowey to meet Daphne du Maurier, they fell in love and married in 1932

Her well known 1936 work about smugglers, Jamaica Inn, was inspired by a visit to Jamaica Inn, a now world famous pub and visitor attraction on Bodmin Moor.

Du Mauriers' most famous novel, Rebecca, was inspired by Menabilly, the house just outside Fowey where Du Maurier and her husband and children lived.

For a full bibliography of her works, click this link to the Daphne du Maurier website and if you wish to purchase a work by Daphne du Maurier, you can click any of the advert links provided

Daphne Du Maurier Festival – 11^th – 20^th May 2006

Daphne Du Maurier Festival – 11^th – 20^th May 2006

Daphne Du Maurier Festival – 11th – 20th May 2006

Daphne Du Maurier Festival – 11th – 20th May 2006

Daphne Du Maurier Festival – 11^th – 20^th May 2006

Daphne Du Maurier Festival – 11^th – 20^th May 2006