HushFest: Cornwall’s Festival of Quietness
You’re invited to join our gentle celebration of quiet shaped by quieteers, artists, community partners and allies. Together, we'll make calm and creative spaces where quieter voices can be part of culture in ways that feel natural, grounded and spacious.
HushFest is Cornwall's festival of Quietness
HushFest invites a kinder way of paying attention. Quietness is not absence. It holds depth, imagination, care and connection. Too often, this richness is overlooked or misunderstood. This festival gently shifts the narrative. We show how quiet expression belongs in cultural life, and how quieter contributions can create meaning, belonging and cultural impact.
HushFest will unfold across Cornwall throughout 2026. Creative workshops will take place in our Quiet Meet Ups in the first half of the year, growing towards exhibitions, gentle gatherings, performances and installations during festival week in July. You are welcome to take part in whatever way feels right for you.
Some may simply attend and experience the festival quietly. Others may create, curate, contribute or help shape elements behind the scenes. All roles matter. All involvement is valued.
The Four Themes of the Festival
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Quiet in Nature
Exploring natural quiet, soundscapes, noticing, and slow witnessing. Through nature-based creativity, land art, photography, and gentle outdoor experiences, we celebrate connection with place.
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Quiet in Self
Exploring inner quiet through journalling, reflective writing, mindful making, and meditative practice. Space to turn inward without pressure or judgement.
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Quiet in Relationship
Exploring shared quiet. Soft conversations, story sharing, intergenerational connection, small co-creative moments with others. Appreciating how quiet can be bonding, relational and grounding.
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Quiet in Creativity
Exploring quiet expression through art, performance, film, photography, sound and playful experimentation. Centre-stage for quiet talent, imagination, subtlety and gentle boldness.
Why It Matters
Cornwall holds many quieter voices. HushFest offers a way for quieter people to contribute, be seen, and be part of culture without needing to push into louder norms. It creates belonging through ease, authenticity and kindness.
This festival nurtures emotional, cultural, ecological and community impact. It encourages gentle leadership and celebrates quietness as a cultural strength.
Who HushFest is For
HushFest is for us quieteers –that's those of us who consider ourselves introverted, sensitive, shy or prefer quieter ways of being. It's for quieter people who want to explore creativity gently. For those who find meaning in small-scale connection. For allies, artists, makers, community groups, venues and organisations who care about inclusion, co-creation and cultural change.
If you are curious about joining the creative journey you are welcome here.
Ways to Be Involved
HushFest grows through many small contributions. You can choose the role and pace that feels right for you. There is no expectation to be loud or highly visible. Quiet contribution is real contribution.
Some people may choose to attend a gathering, workshop or exhibition quietly. Others may share artwork, photography, writing, music or film. Some may curate a small section of a display. Others may help behind the scenes with gentle logistics or preparation. Some may offer space or support as community partners or venues. All of these roles hold equal value.
You are welcome to:
- attend creative workshops and Meet Ups early in 2026
- explore and offer a creative response for the festival
- co-curate or support small exhibitions and displays
- share a gentle performance or contribution
- help with preparation and quietly organising in the background
- collaborate as a partner or venue in Cornwall
- support documentation, reflection or storytelling
- join online quiet making spaces and create from home
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Where
HushFest gently extends across Cornwall through our Quiet Meet Ups in Penzance, Truro, Falmouth, Redruth, Liskeard, Helston, Newquay, Wadebridge and online, and through our community partners. Our festival begins in St Cubert and Camborne with community exhibitions and events, with the intention of rippling through our communities from there.
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Timeline
Nov-Dec 2025: shaping the programme with community
Jan-Jun 2026: creative workshops
Apr-Jun 2026: contributions finalised
July 2026: festival week
Aug-Oct 2026: reflection, digital archive and legacy sharing
You can begin by staying connected and noticing what feels meaningful as the festival takes shape. You can join at any point. Slow visibility and behind-the-scenes contributions are welcomed here.
HushFest seeks to create a distributed, accessible festival model, hosted in places where people already are, allowing quieter people to contribute and participate close to home, with less pressure and more comfort.
You're welcome to explore any of the four themes in ways that feel authentic. All individuals, community groups, organisations and venues who feel called to join us are welcome to be part of the festival’s network across Cornwall. This can be small scale. It can be collaborative. It can be simple and spacious.
If you would like to explore involvement, you can share an initial idea or possibility, or offer a conversation about how you or your organisation might contribute. There is room here for quiet presence, gentle leadership and creative growth. We are building this together in community.
Next Steps
- You can find out more about HushFest by reading our HushFest Proposal and Vision.
- Express your interest in being involved by signing up using this form. You'll be kept up-to-date with what's happening, too, and you can join in at any time you feel called to.
- If you already have an idea about how you'd like to contribute, then please let us know - once you express your interest using this form, you'll receive a short survey to tell us who you are and how you'd like to be involved. You can also request a chat with us from there, too!
A glimpse of what's possible...
"I was, I am, I will be" Exhibition
Previously, our community came together for a beautiful, heartwarming exhibition at Helston's Museum of Cornish Life telling quieteers stories. Watch the short video below to get a sense of the atmosphere we created together, and read the blog post for more information about the exhibition. We hope seeing what quieteers have achieved before now, inspires you to get involved.