BAKERS from Bristol won both individual titles and one of the two junior categories at the The Lost Gardens of Heligan’s first annual Global Pasty Championships on Saturday (February 27).

The championships were organised in partnership with the Cornish Pasty Association (CPA). Nearly 100 individuals and companies entered, with winners chosen by a panel of expert judges (led by award-winning pasty maker Graham Cornish) across six categories.

Vanessa Farr from Bristol triumphed in the Cornish individual category with a pasty baked in Cornwall to meet entry requirements. “I’m pleased to win - I was up against professional bakers as well as amateurs, so this is a big one,” she said.

Fellow Bristolian Max Baker won the alternative individual category with a chicken in barbecue sauce pasty, and all three podium places in the alternative junior category were claimed by Bristolians, with Finley McKeever winning with a chicken fajita pasty. Leo Weller from Liskeard topped the Cornish junior category.

The 2020 Cornish Pasty Company winner of the World Pasty Championships at the Eden Project, Phat Pasty kept its title, while Rowe’s Bakery won the alternative company category with a feta cheese, butternut squash, spinach and red onion recipe.

Around 60 adults and children entered the World's Fastest Crimper contest, each crimping a single pasty against the clock. Aptly-named bakery operative Michaela Dash from Penryn was named adult winner; she has worked with Rowe's for 30 years and was “chuffed” with her time of 5.38 seconds. The children's class winner was eight-year-old Darcey Hill, from Mevagissey, with a time of 13.68 seconds.

Yuriko Shigyo, from Japanese capital Tokyo, travelled to Cornwall to take part in the crimping competition for the second year running, and promised to return next year to enter the pasty contest.

Thousands of visitors basked in Cornish sunshine and enjoyed live music from Cornish artists including Hedluv + Passman and Strange Almond throughout the day.

Heligan chief executive David Harland congratulated all the winners, adding: “We’ve had a wonderful day celebrating the best of Cornish cuisine in a manner that would make St Piran himself proud: eating lots of pasties and dancing to some proper Cornish tunes.”

The Global Pasty Championships were the grand finale of Cornish Pasty Week, which aims to celebrate Cornwall’s culinary gift to the world and highlight the importance of the £300m Cornish pasty industry. It supports the next generation of bakers through the Cornish Pasty Community Fund, and to date has raised more than £35,000 to boost cooking and food skills in nearly 60 schools across Cornwall.

These include Camborne Science and International Academy, which received a £2,000 grant last year and plans to create and develop a school food garden with polytunnels, raised beds, and a food waste composting machine. For Cornish Pasty Week 2026, it hosted a pasty-crimping masterclass for hospitality and catering students.

CPA chairman Jason Jobling said: "The Global Pasty Championships was a great way to bring a most memorable Cornish Pasty Week to a close. We're already looking forward to the 10th edition next year.”