Golowan is saved?

Last night was the Penzance Town Council meeting that decided upon the future of Golowan. Now Golowan has a different future, to recap 7 weeks ago the festival was presumably going to be run under the auspices of the town council. 6 weeks ago the council decided to put the core functions of Golowan out to a private management company. Last night all this was rescinded and we now have a new future for Golowan.


Personally I found myself in broad agreement with the principles that were stated at friday's public meeting at the Ritz. Which were to quote from my earlier blog: "That the budget cuts were unacceptable. That the new organisation must be bound by the original aims of Golowan. That the town council and councillors continues to fully support the festival whatever happens in the future (i.e. not cut it loose). That setting up a new organisation would take too long and not be able to run the 2016 festival."

As I agreed with all of these I would've been delighted if last nights decision reflected all of those points. However it did not, but from from glass half full to glass half empty, the mayors recommendations as set out in the paperwork did not come into place. The incremental budget cuts of 5 thousand per year for Golowan were refused (plan was from the 15k this year to, 19,250 2016 and 14,250 2017 and 2018). There was no mention of the original aims of Golowan and there was no mention of Town Council support for the festival in the recommendations. It could have been much worse.

On the point of a new organisation being set up for next year this was not listened to. Apparently it was impossible in the time-frame for the Town Council to hire a director and getting everything set for next year. (Planning a large event involves a lot of paperwork and jumping through hoops, often months in advance.) It was voted that an interim organisation will be appointed to do this very task for next year and somehow be able to do what the council can not!! It was explained that public concerns about the time-frame were addressed and now the council has moved the dates for deciding and handing over to a new organisation from the 18th of November to the 25th of November. I don't think this did address the anxieties people have one bit.

The full motion passed by council is that: 

This Council acknowledges the vital role the Golowan Festival plays both in life of the community we represent and the local economy.

The Council will continue to actively support Golowan and any future organisation that manages it. 

The Council recognises the importance of Golowan's original charitable aims and will ensure any future management organisation will abide by these.
The Council believes a successful future for Golowan is most likely to be achieved through a not-for-profit community organisation.
Immediately after the conclusion of the 2016 festival, the Council will invite bids from as wide a range as possible of appropriate interested parties to take responsibility for Golowan from 2017.
For at least the first 3 years of operation, the successful bidder will receive financial support from the Council of 25,000 pounds per year.
The Council will facilitate the creation of a Golowan supporters group, on the model of the 'Friends of Penlee House' with the intention of providing a vehicle for consultation on and community engagement with the future of the Golowan Festival.
This Council acknowledges the importance of Golowan 2016 as a transitional year.
This Council recognises that an era of increased responsibilities for town councils requires a higher standard of adherence to administrative and financial regulations than has been the case and that therefore the Council cannot manage Golowan in the way it has done previously.
This Council will therefore appoint an appropriate community organisation to deliver to deliver the 2016 Golowan festival ONLY, according to the timetable laid out below.

2 November – Committee decision. 

3 November – Firm expressions of interest to run the 2016 festival will be sought from the community. Advertised on Town Council’s website. 

20 November – Submissions from Community Interest Companies (or equivalents) returned to Town Council office. 

24 November – Chairs’ Committee meet to review the submissions, decision taken. 

25 November – Successful company informed and transference to begin immediately, to enable an event notification notice to go from the successful company to Cornwall Council before Christmas. Followed by the first SAG meeting In January to present the event management plan to Cornwall Council.

So this is to be the future, quite what it all means remains to be seen....

Golowan and it's future back before Penzance Town Council

Much has said and been written about Golowan over the last 6 weeks. For it was 6 weeks ago tomorrow that Penzance Town Council voted to put the core functions of the festival out to private management. This resulted in a flurry of press coverage, an explosion on social media, hundreds signing petitions. People were certainly not happy with the behind closed doors decision. Or to put it more simply 859 people have signed a petition that reads:

"Penzance town council have voted to hand the Golowan festival to a private company. We the undersigned believe this decision should be reversed and the public consulted about the festivals future."

https://www.change.org/p/penzance-town-council-save-the-golowan-festival?recruiter=20902901&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink

On friday night (30/10/2015) there was a public meeting held in the Ritz Penzance. Pictured above is Mike Sagar Fenton chairing that meeting. The major thrust of the meeting was twofold, to hear from the Mayor (David Nebesnuick) about his latest recommendation to the full council meeting on monday and to ask him questions and show him the strength of public feeling. The second part was to resolve what the meeting wanted for the future of Golowan. Understandably there was some disagreement between what the public wanted and what the mayor had planned. (if it's of any interest I have complained that the town council papers and recommendation were published before the public meeting and are consequently contradictory and not taking public feeling into account).

Whatever I may think, or other councillors and whatever the mayor will recommend tomorrow night, has yet to be decided. Amendments may well be made, votes won and lost. To say the future of Golowan and it's management is secure and planned is not true.

The Mayor's recommendation is as a result of talking to people involved in the festival over the last few weeks. Is it a climbdown on the privatisation of Golowan? I really don't think so at all. Now it is envisaged that a CIO or CIC (which is presumably yet to exist) will take over Golowan in the coming weeks and deliver the 2016 festival. That the budget will be cut by 5 thousand in year 1 and an additional 5 thousand in year 2. That is £25,000 down to £15,000.

The full text is here
http://www.penzancetowncouncil.co.uk/assets/file/Golowan%202016%20Report.pdf

The meetings response was very clear in it's thoughts on this. There was a later show of hands that indicated; That the budget cuts were unacceptable That the new organisation must be bound by the original aims of Golowan. That the town council and councillors continues to fully support the festival whatever happens in the future (i.e. not cut it loose). That setting up a new organisation would take too long and not be able to run the 2016 festival. It was pointed out that the feasibility of putting this out to tender and making sure any organisation (let alone a bespoke organisation) won the tender would be ultra vires and even judicially re viewable, i.e. unlawful. Clearly a great amount of work is needed before any of these plans see the light of day!

I have a further fundamental problem with the plans, the Mayor justifies the decision to take Golowan out of the Town Council's hands because there were failings in the management this year. To quote:

The stimulus to take action arose from Cornwall Council’s loss of confidence in Penzance Town Council’s management of the festival in 2015 and their plans to undertake a special review of the management of Golowan under an independent chair provided by Plymouth City Council. 

Cornwall Council’s review took place in Camborne on 25 Sep 2015 and involved most of the members of the Council’s Safety Advisory Group. The Mayor, Acting Town Clerk and Festival Director were invited to attend the meeting which lasted 3 hours. Penzance Town Council was debriefed on its failures and weaknesses in preparing for the 2015 festival and the changes required for a successful festival in 2016. It was made clear that the status quo could not continue into 2016 because unless substantial improvements were made it was unlikely that the necessary road closures would be approved putting the festival in doubt.

(I've requested the minutes and notes from this meeting and not had any response whatsoever)

So there were failings apparently, the lesson for Penzance Town Council is apparently to get rid of the hassle and give it to someone else. What were the lessons from this time round and how can these obstacles be surmounted? More pressingly how can a brand new organisation or company learn these lessons. It greatly concerns me that if the challenges of delivering Golowan are seen as too much on the town council, what confidence can there be that any new provider will be ready for these challenges. I'm very much used to ways of working, whereby evaluation is done and mistakes are learnt from and things get better, I have little confidence that any of these proposed plans actually address the supposed failings of 2015 and has a vision for how 2016 can run smoother.

I'm still greatly perplexed at the seeming rush in all this. We have a festival that has survived, albeit with a revival, from antiquity, Even since the revival there has been 25 festivals. Yet we are giving ourselves such a short time-frame to reorder and reorganise this massive festival, the question is why?




As I wrote above the Town Council meeting will be held tomorrow night. Until then nothing is settled and I know there are various alternatives and amendments being proposed. Quite what the end product will be is far from certain. The meeting will be held in the Lecture Theater, Zennor building, Penwith College, 7 pm start. If you live in Penzance and wish to contact your councillors the contact details are here:
http://www.penzancetowncouncil.co.uk/councillors

Tomorrow's agenda:
http://www.penzancetowncouncil.co.uk/assets/file/Town%20Council%202.11.15.pdf

Penzance Town Council issue statement on Golowan

Coming hot on the heels of a widespread social media campaign to keep Golowan public, the front page of the Cornishman and a lot more going behind the scenes. The Chair of the Finance and Property Committe Dick Cliffe has issued a statement approved by the Mayor David Nebesnuick on behalf of the town council about the decision made 3 weeks ago today.

I've had no input into the content of this letter and I was sent it after it was finished. I do not agree with many of the points and would like to see a lot more clear facts to back up some of the sweeping statements.

Here's some brief comments.

There is a statement that: "Indeed the Council would prefer the event (Golowan) to be independent of the Council." This is not the policy of the town council, it may well be the views of some councillors but it has never been discussed let alone decided upon by the council. I certainly do not agree with it.

It continues: "Should an organization come forward at some point in the future, and expect significant Town Council grant funding to deliver Golowan, then we would want to see an established track record of delivery of large public events to a budget." Again never been discussed quite who 'we' is therefore is unclear. Again the town council has not discussed other options only to put it out to private management, let alone set parameters for another organisation to run it. It is only the town council in a meeting that can make such decisions. Again I do not agree with the statement, it's specifically and carefully written to preclude any community group or organisation within Penzance having anything to do with the running of Golowan and leaves only the private sector available.

On another tack my previous blog, I criticised the taking of this issue in private. The reasons given was because it was confidential. I've asked the question why if this statement is public and a varied argument made for the future management of Golowan, could the meeting itself not also have been public? I await an answer from the authors of this statement. I suspect the answer is because public pressure is telling and that many people feel that this is not an issue for the town council alone and there is a huge public interest, keep up the good work folks...

The open letter is here https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6TN2L9M
The poll asking for a public meeting is here https://fans.vote/ACjkiqbudBQ/?wid=&ref=voted

Full Penzance Town Council statement is here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2m8p_rrHuXtZm50dXB5MGcyMjVhWTlZZElCUnZnc0lfVmhj

Golowan no longer a community festival after a Penzance Town Council meeting behind closed doors

With some of us still pondering our way through the Penzance 400 report and trying to discover what to read between the lines, we all have a fresh cause for consternation, another festival involving Penzance Town Council; Golowan. Now I will be clear at the beginning that this was discussed in private session by councillors, that I am hamstrung to say much more on the subject.

I can however talk around it, a motion was brought before the town council on monday 21st September after the press and public had been excluded from the meeting. The public face of it is these words, as taken from the public agenda: "(b) Future Management of the Golowan Festival 2016 (see attached)". The attachment is of course private. I can confirm that this was the first and only time this matter was considered by the town council, since I was elected. I like other members had only 3 days from receiving the agenda to consider the item. Obviously due to the fact that it was considered private, councillors had no opportunity to speak to people involved and consider the arguments from those on the ground nor have a chance to canvass the opinion of the people that voted us into office. 

The last full council meeting, was a packed agenda and the usual rule for a 3 hour meeting maximum had to be suspended for the last items to be considered. As you can see for yourselves from the agenda it had 18 reports for decision that doesn't even include minutes or reports for information, including a future home for the town council, a proposal to reduce the number of town councillors, devolution priorities year on year for the next few years, CCTV, Morrab Gardens, Isles of Scilly parking, Poltair hospital and so the list goes on. Matters vital to the future of the council and the town itself, incurring budgets of millions and affecting a huge swathe of public services. As there was such a great rush, members were written to and asked to read papers carefully to facilitate less questions and more speedy voting at the meeting. It is in this context that we have to realise that the Golowan decision was made at the end of a very very long meeting with a packed agenda. 

Add to this the abject lack of consultation by the council itself to members of the public, interested parties and even councillors themselves. Is it any wonder that we now have an open letter signed by over 300 people, calling on the council to rescind that hastily made decision?  

Here's a link to the open letter which provides some insight to what the decision was: 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6TN2L9M

For what it's worth, I do not agree that the motion should have been discussed in this manner. The future of a such a pivotal community festival is most definitely a matter of public interest and not to be packaged up with sensitive matter and hidden behind the veil of commercial sensitivity. Or in other words the decision to put Golowan out to commercial management, should be a matter of public debate, careful consideration and have been put before councillors as a simple question in the interests of openness and transparency. In the current climate this would seem to radical!

A dedication to the mayor of Penzance Phil Rendle

Well unless you're reading this today or tomorrow, it will be the former town mayor, as tomorrow monday the 12th of May is when the chains will be passed on in the mayor choosing ceremony. Phil has been fortunate to have served 2 years as the mayor, as the election at the tail end of his first year could have meant he was not re-elected or the composition of the council vastly changed and a new mayor been sought. It was perhaps the way in which Phil took to his first year and conducted himself that he was not only re-elected onto the council last year but stood unopposed as mayor.

It was fitting that the front page of the Cornishman carried Phil's picture in a story about the Penzance 400 celebrations, pictured right with the town banner. It is indeed a great honour to be the chair of any town or parish council. It carries with it many of the typical roles and responsibilities of leadership, being a spokesperson and the public face and indeed spokesperson of the body. But it does not imply leadership, the mayor must be respected and listened to by councillors, but the role is not to lead but to chair. To remain above everything, guide debate, offer advice, the mayor is not the boss. The power of a council is in the members, the body corporate, the decisions should come from them and the authority of the officers and mayor should reflect this. Needless to say being mayor is a balancing act, Remaining neutral and impartial and trying to oversee 20 councillors, who all individually have their own ideas about the world and more within their various political parties and factions. The various pushes and pulls from members of the public and civic bodies to do this or that not to mention the desires and whims of Cornwall Council to push the town one way or another. Combined with all of the civic functions in the local area and further afield (Trevithick day and Flora Day to name 2) and meetings of various bodies as well as attending all the town council meetings and committees it is a huge task. I would argue that to be done effectively it is very nearly a full time job.

There have been many challenges in this last civic year. Last years election saw 8 new members elected to the town council. All with no experience in local government in Cornwall and a lot to learn about how business is done and indeed a lot of ideas and enthusiasm to bring to the council. The nature of the town council has changed significantly with the redevelopment of St John's Hall and the loss of the Guild Hall for meetings. At a special meeting called (when I was away), it was decided that the town council would not accept the offer of moving premises and renting in St John's Hall. In the last year the town council has become a Living Wage Employer. We decided as a council to create (with the community) a neighbourhood plan to guide development and investment in the town. As mayor Phil travelled to London with senior members of Cornwall Council to talk to the minister about the planned harbour works. After of course the town council had input in the scheme proposed. Finally and after arguments and heartbreak we might finally see some works on the harbour and the Scilly link! This is a quick snapshot and I've left out all the planning for the Christmas Lights Festival (and the new lights themselves), Penzance 400 celebrations, Golowan, the rocky road of taking over cctv from Cornwall Council, the annual budget and many many other things. Needless to say many of these events are huge for the town and will shape both the town and the council well into the future and things will never be the same again as a result of many of them. Interesting times to be town mayor.

Despite all this turmoil and change and the challenges it brings to the town council. Phil Rendle has risen to these challenges admirably with the erstwhile support of the town council staff. He has somehow managed to keep a smile on his face, but I dare say his jokes haven't got much better! But he now will have more time to work on his repertoire. Phil is also well respected in the council and around the town. It is a huge task being town mayor, with a huge set of responsibilities to not end the 2 years as a laughing stock or with many enemies is an honour in itself. Phil can be proud that he hands over the town council in a good place, with a better relationship (I hope) with the people of the town, Cornwall Councillors and Cornwall Council itself than it has done in the past. I wish the next mayor well, it's vital and a challenging role with many various demands to balance, often little thanks when things go well and a lot of criticism when things go badly all to be done with a dignified smile on the face.

Business attitudes towards Golowan and Mazey day, my survey

Following a number of comments on my blog and twitter about Golowan and it's effect on the town, it's funding and the effect on business, I thought I would investigate some of these claims for myself. I spoke to 20 business in Penzance East and asked them some questions about Golowan. Politicians of all varieties,

spend a great deal of time justifying their views, opinions and policies on what people think, or more precisely what they say people think. Phrases like 'the majority of people in my constituency', 'the people of...', 'people I speak to', 'ordinary decent people' and the like abound. In truth without talking to thousands of people, which in itself would be a full time job, we can't for certain say one thing or another. It became clear to me that the comments about Golowan were originating from a small number of sources. Myself my opinions were formed from what I knew or what I thought I knew, so in effect I was just as bad. All parties were guilty of making assumptions without proper research. I neither have the time or energy to speak to thousands of people so I spent a few mornings talking to a random selection of shops and traders on Causeway Head and Bread Street*, to try to get a better idea of what traders think.

About the questions:

To make things simple I thought I'd only ask 4 questions, to not unduly take up people's time and to make the results easier to understand. In hindsight, all 4 of the questions required 1 of 3 answers: yes, no and don't know/ not sure/ on the fence, this was a mistake. Only fundamentalists live in a world of black and white, there is lots of grey areas and perhaps my questions and received answers, could better reflect this.

I choose not to sugarcoat the questions, I wanted to know what businesses (managers, owners and shopkeepers) thought without any preconceptions about things. So for example the estimates for the millions brought into Penzance, I did not prompt people with. I gave the figure of the town council contribution to Golowan as it was in the question, I could have explained it costs the average Penzance ratepayer slightly more than the cost of a pint of beer a year, but I didn't. I tried to ask the questions without tainting the answers with my own preconceived ideas about the wonderful benefits (; of Golowan, although after the questions I wasn't shy about what I thought.

The first question was: "Do you like Golowan and Mazey Day?" I wanted to get a sense of attitudes toward the festival separately to figures and spending and see if there was a correlation between attitude and effect on business. I think some took the question as does your business like it and others as do you like it personally.

The second question was "Is Golowan/ Mazey Day good for your business?" Most seemed to take this question as referring to Mazey Day. This question provoked some definite yes and definite no answers, but also some grey area answers. Many of the yeses were very positive about it, recording record takings and explaining that Mazey Day the best day of the year.  5 respondents of the 11 nos (25%) explained that Mazey Day was a washout but either Golowan saw an increase in trade, or that customers choose to shop on days other than Mazey Day, so was far from bad for takings. We could easily move those 25% into the yes column or the don't know column. So the blanket yes or no question doesn't quite accurately cover it. All respondents bar one considered Mazey Day good for the town and welcomed events that brought people into Penzance. I didn't find any traders that don't open for Mazey Day, 2 were considering closing next year and 2 I didn't speak to, don't open for the day.

(A special mention to Kool Kutz the hair and beauty place on Bread Street, who knowing Mazey Day would not be great for business choose instead to bake cakes and sell them to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care, well done.)

The next question: "Penzance Town Council contributes about 5% of the budget; £26,120 per year to Golowan is this a good spend?" Again there were some definite opinions for and against, as with any public spending. Some questioned why it cost so much, 2 were unsure without knowing (all the don't knows), one thought it was a complete waste. 2 thought it was great and would be happy to spend more on it. The majority view was that it was good for the town, the school kids loved it and it was good to see people brought into the town, thus positive.

The last question was: "If the town council stopped contributing would you pay in?" This was by far provoked the most interesting responses for me. By far the majority view was that costs are high enough for traders as it is, a most definite no! 3 respondents explained that they would contribute something, all keen to explain not a large amount, it's worth mentioning that none of them do well at all on Mazey Day but would put in for the good of the town and businesses other than there own. The don't know/ not sures were all when I spoke to a member of staff, rather than the owner/ manager (2 instances) and the rest a chain store who didn't have the power to make that decision alone.

There are limits to this research it is by no means a comprehensive survey of town center businesses let alone all kinds of business. It was focused primarily on Bread Street and Causeway Head, missing out Chapel street, Market Jew street and Alverton street. However, I am confident that there is a majority answer to all of the questions and that I did speak to a sufficient variety of town center businesses to get a good feel for attitudes toward Golowan. I am confident that there is a positive attitude toward Golowan generally and in terms of business and that businesses are happy that the town council invests in it. 

*The full list of business surveyed is, many thanks to them for the time in speaking to me:

Mount's Bay Wine Company, Kool Kutz, Meeks Soft Furnishings, Exchange and Mart, Lou's Shoes, London Inn, Cancer Research, Rowe's Bakers, Thomson's Travel Agents, Blue Fur Ball, Mimi's Boutique, Spiegelhalter's Jewellers, Woot's News, Causeway Head Furnishings, Fur, Feather & Flowers, Jim's Cash & Carry, Supercards, St Justin, Malins pet foods,

Penzance town council and what it costs you and Golowan

I thought I'd highlight some of the funding of the town council. Party due to the fact that I want to open up local government and try to explain it as I learn of it. Partly, sadly because some people don't seem to like the Golowan festival and the funding it receives from the council. Each to his and her own I suppose. It should be noted a couple of things, firstly the budget was set in April before the elections (quite why they do it this way and not by the new administration/ councillors is puzzling). Town and parish councilors are not paid for their work and their time. Generally there is a commonly held view that the more local the level and the smaller and the more efficient it is. Certainly when you consider what tax you pay, council tax, income tax, national insurance, VAT, fuel duty, alcohol and tobacco duty etc etc it's easier to trace where it's spend on the local authorities, than it is on the apparent money pit of Whitehall.

pic from http://www.purelypenzance.co.uk/thetown/festivals.html

The split of council tax is 84% to Cornwall Council, 11% to Devon and Cornwall police and 5% to the town or parish council. The bulk of the money goes to Cornwall Council, the police are next up then in our case Penzance town council. So the average council tax is around £1500 pa, £1260 goes to Cornwall £75 of this goes to Penzance and £165 to pay for the police. So where does Penzance's share of this money go? Well here's a picture of the form sent out with every council tax bill at the start of the financial year:

The net cost therefore of Golowan is £26,120 for this financial year down from £32,550 last year. To put that in real terms, about 5% of the precept of Penzance town council is spent on the festival. So of the £1500 pa average that people pay in council tax, as above, £75 goes to Penzance town council and £3.75 of that goes to Golowan, 31p per month about 7 or 8p a week. As this report states the festival brings in £4.5 million to the economy. Some have doubted that figure, but from talking to shopowners and traders and from hearing stories. I know that many businesses have better days and even weeks for Mazey day and Golowan than they do for the rest of the year. Certainly there are businesses that don't capitalise on it. But from a business point of view, if the town council can invest a relatively small amount of money for a large number of visitors benefiting a large amount of businesses, then it's worth it. Unfortunately there will always be winners and losers.

Many have suggested to me on twitter and in the comments on this post here, that Golowan should be 100% self financing. Unfortunately nobody has suggested how this would work. There are staff that work year round organising the week long events over dozens of venues and hundreds of acts and performers. Road closures cost £600 for each one, not to mention of course the numerous risk assessments, public liability insurance, marketing and promotion. Let's not forget most of the work is done by volunteers, who selflessly give their time.

So, what other funding options?

Unfortunately the naysayers don't seem to have a credible, let alone costed plan, for how we might pay for the festival. From my perspective and the previous Town Council who set the budget, the money given to Golowan is a sound investment. It's not a statutory duty of the town council to support community events (although we do support a great number) neither is it a statutory duty to attract people into Penzance to spend money although it is something we do do, supporting events for example, the farmer's market, the christmas market etc.

It has been suggested that businesses pay for the festival, although this isn't a bad idea. When Cornwall Council stopped funding Golowan there wasn't a great deal of take up. I can't imagine that many businesses would be forthcoming. Unfortunately our town centre is struggling there are empty shops and many businesses are hard pressed to keep going. I believe it would be unfair and unrealistic to add to their burden further. Interestingly many of the detractors run businesses and not a single one offered to help fund the festival which is telling of the situation.

We could of course set up toll booths charging people to come into town on Mazey Day, I don't think this would be particularly productive. At the moment scores of volunteers man the road closures for nothing, surely they would want paying if they were responsible for taking money. Overlooking for a moment how logistically you could possibly collect money from the estimated 30,000 that come to Penzance for Mazey day.

To conclude the expenditure is budgeted for, it is not taken from existing services. It costs the taxpayer less money per year than down the back of the average sofa. It brings exceptional value to the community, it draws visitors to the town, it is a boost for the town center. There's a comments section below, if you can find an alternative way of funding Golowan please do. If you can think of a way for the town council to spend this money that will bring thousands of people and millions of pounds into the local economy, I'm all ears. Until then I will be happy next year to propose that the funding is kept in place in the knowledge it is a small investment for a huge event.

Another great Mazey Day

Great Mazey day and Golowan festival this year as always.  It's one of my favourite days of the year and whether you see it as a festival to St John the Baptist, mid summer or like me a good excuse to have a party, there's a lot to like. Credit to the organisers and particularly the police, volunteers, schools and local organisations who spend a great deal of time organising lots of things, to make it all fantastic.

There are obvious economic benefits to the whole Golowan week, but for me it's the celebration.  The origins of Golowan or Gool Jowan (the feast of John) obviously predate Penzance's patron saint St John and are linked to the seasons, as with many Cornish festivals. That's my view of it, it's a celebration of summer, of Penzance of Cornwall. As such all of Penzance is represented our diverse traders, their foods and goods, music, art, boats, the harbour and of course drink ;-). I really enjoyed it and a great thank you to all those behind the scenes, that organised one of the best community festivals around. Makes me proud to live in Penzance with my family and to serve on the town council.