Cornwall —Kernow in Cornish— took the central stage from the very first night of the 55th Lorient Interceltic Festival, held under the theme “Cornwall, at the Heart of the Celtic Sea”. The featured nation of this year’s edition opened its participation with Kernowcopia, a production blending theatre and music, specially created for the Breton event and presented at the Palais des Congrès.
The festival runs from 31 July to 9 August, once again transforming Lorient for ten days into a major meeting point for the Celtic cultures. The organisers have announced more than 300 concerts and activities across twelve venues, involving around 5,000 musicians, singers, dancers, visual artists, researchers and filmmakers. The programme combines major productions, parades, concerts in halls and pubs, instrumental competitions, lectures, markets and street performances.
Eleven years after the last edition dedicated to Cornwall, the Interceltic Festival once again welcomes the territory as its principal guest, placing its maritime culture at the heart of the programme. The aim is to strengthen cultural ties between both sides of the English Channel and to pay particular attention to the relationship between the Celtic peoples of the Atlantic seaboard and the sea.
Kernowcopia served as a musical introduction to that identity. Its title plays on the idea of the cornucopia, or horn of plenty, and the Cornish name for Cornwall, Kernow. The production brought together the mixed choir Barret’s Privateers, the group Skillywidden and a duo of traditional musicians on the same stage. Rather than performing one after another in the conventional manner, the three ensembles remained on stage throughout, taking part together in a production conceived as a collective celebration.
The performance followed the thread of a humorous legend about the creation of Cornwall. According to the story, God distributed land among the different peoples but forgot to reserve any for the Cornish, because they were all in the pub drinking cider and beer. They then took refuge in a tavern and began to sing in order to endure the injustice. Their music eventually persuaded the deity who, after joining in the festivities, granted them a horn-shaped peninsula stretching out into the sea.
The story provided the basis for a light-hearted performance in which humour, storytelling and traditional music reinforced one another.
The 2026 programme will continue to develop this perspective through concerts, exhibitions, meetings and major productions. Central events include the Grand Parade of the Celtic Nations, scheduled for Sunday, 2 August, as well as the various performances of Horizons Celtiques and the evenings dedicated to the participating territories.
The line-up brings together artists and groups from a wide range of backgrounds and musical styles, from established figures such as Yann Tiersen, Agnes Obel and Carlos Núñez to traditional music, rock, symphonic creations and new forms of fusion.
Kernowcopia encapsulated that ambition on the opening night. Drawing on an ancient legend, the production brought together instruments from different traditions and introduced unexpected rhythms to create a celebration of Cornwall far removed from familiar stereotypes. Amid tavern songs, brass, strings and humour, the featured nation finally found its territory, while the Lorient Interceltic Festival found an opening worthy of its most maritime edition.
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