Clovelly Herring Festival

The herring fishing industry was a major part of the local economy in North Devon and each year this heritage is celebrated at the Herring Festival in Clovelly. The “Silver Darlings” are the focus of cookery demonstrations, entertainment, stalls and exhibitions. There’ll be Sea shanty singing, craft activities for children and demonstrations of traditional arts like net making as well as kippers and bloaters for sale. Its held to support sustainable fishing by traditional methods today and of course to have a good time!  There’s plenty to do at Clovelly even without all the festival activities – take your camera as Clovelly is very photogenic.

Helpful Hints

Clovelly is a unique traffic free village – visitors must park in the capacious carpark at the top of the hill by the Visitor Centre. The admision fee of £6.50 includes two museums, the parking fee and admission to Clovelly Court Gardens – normal admission fees apply during the festival. A Landrover taxi service into the village is available for a small extra fee (in the old days, donkeys carried both visitors and fish up the hill but today they just give rides to children in the summer!). The revenue raised is used to maintain the village and keep it beautiful.

In 2025 the Festival should be on Sunday November 16th (to be confirmed).

Click here for the village website which also has info on the Festival : http://www.clovelly.co.uk/village

Photo by Bladeflyer.