THE Falmouth Oyster Festival has launched a new series of live talks with famous authors, in collaboration with Falmouth Book Festival.

Hosted at Falmouth’s Princess Pavilion, the new series of ticketed live talks will offer an audience with:

  • Hugh Fearnley- Whittingstall (Friday, October 10) – explores his journey from River Cottage to prime-time TV, in conversation with Falmouth Book Festival Director Colin Midson.
  • Rukmini Iyer (Saturday, October 11) – best-selling author and food stylist will be chatting with Colin about her biggest and best recipes from her ‘Roasting Tin’ series of cookbooks, which have sold over 2million copies worldwide.
  • Fern Britton (Sunday, October 12) – beloved broadcaster Fern, will be joined on stage by food influencer Rose Cant, also known as Mum on Muddy Lane on Instagram (who happens to be Fern’s niece). They’ll be sharing their love of Cornwall, food and the inspiration for Fern’s books.

The new collection of author talks, form part of the enhanced festival offering – joining the Chef’s Theatre cooking demonstrations and live music across the weekend.

Colin Midson, Falmouth Book Festival director, said: “Books and food both bring people together, so it’s wonderful to be partnering with Falmouth Oyster Festival: two great events that have really stamped their mark on the town’s cultural landscape over the last few years.

“We can’t wait to welcome the ever-popular Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall back to town and are delighted that Fern Britton will be venturing down from the north coast to talk about her latest book and her love of food and Cornwall. And having the multi-million-bestselling Roasting Tin queen Rukmini Iyer with us a real coup! It will be a weekend that promises to be as nourishing for the mind as it is for the appetite."

New for 2025 the Princess Pavilion is the event’s second venue, in addition to Events Square, and is set to include a new artisan market, street food, live music and a family-friendly entertainment.

Visitors can expect to spot a special mermaid appearance, puppet show and a workshop for children, and all those young at heart, by the acclaimed Miracle Theatre. ‘The Secret Squirrel Society’ is an interactive game for all ages, with sessions available to pre-book via the Falmouth Oyster Festival website.

The festival is free-to-attend throughout the daytime with the Chef’s Theatre, market, street food and activities to explore. By nightfall the ticketed evening performances offer a variety of entertainment from comedian Johnny Cowling, to musical storytelling from Seth Lakeman and performances from Falmouth Soul Sensation and The Quartermasters.

The four-day annual festival is dedicated to the mighty mollusc – the native Fal Oyster – and signals the start of the annual oyster dredging season, which runs from October to March.

The festival serves to celebrate Falmouth’s Oystermen, their heritage and traditional methods of harvesting, using only sail and oar on Falmouth’s working boats – a practise perfected for over a century.

The hotly contested oyster shucking competition will return, at a new time of noon on Saturday (October 11), alongside the Working Boat Race, followed by a performance from The Oggyman on Sunday afternoon to round-off the celebrations.