The Rising Sun at Portmellon, a mile from Mevagissey, has live music most Sunday afternoons from 3pm, a band on the last weekend of the month, and three Xmas Party Nights in the run-up to Christmas. It's a free house on the beach, so you can hear a band with the sea behind the window, a Cornish ale in your hand and a roast inside you. Here's what's on and when, plus a word on the other places locally that put bands on.
When is live music at The Rising Sun?
Most Sundays, from 3pm. The roast is served 12 to 3, the band starts as the plates are cleared, and the afternoon goes from there. It's the busiest session of the week in winter and the reason Sunday lunch here tends to run late.
Month-end nights. A band on the last weekend of each month, usually Saturday, later and louder than a Sunday.
Xmas Party Nights. Saturday 28 November, Saturday 12 December and Saturday 19 December, live music from 7.30pm with the Christmas menu running all evening. Details in Christmas at The Rising Sun.
We post the line-up on our Facebook and Instagram each week, and the bar staff know who's on if you ring: 01726 473214.
What kind of music is it?
Mostly acoustic and covers on a Sunday afternoon, with local Cornish musicians and the occasional band passing through on a tour of the south coast. Month-end and party nights are fuller bands and a dance floor, in so far as a pub on a beach has a dance floor. It is never so loud you can't talk at the bar, and it is never a ticketed gig: you turn up, you buy a drink, you listen.
Can I eat while the music is on?
On Sundays the roast finishes at 3pm, so book a table for 1 or 1.30 and you'll be finishing as the band starts. Bar snacks run on through the afternoon. On party nights the small plates menu runs all evening. The full menu is on the Eat & Drink page.
Are dogs allowed?
Yes, in the pub. Most Sunday afternoons there are more dogs than musicians. They're not allowed in the letting rooms upstairs, but a dog asleep under a table while a band plays is a normal sight here.
Where else near Mevagissey has live music?
We'd rather you found the right night than pretended we're the only option. If you're planning a weekend around it, Is Cornwall worth visiting off-season? covers what else is open.
What makes a Sunday here different?
The window. The bar looks straight out on to Portmellon cove, so a band plays with the tide coming in behind them. In winter it's dark by half four and the lights of Mevagissey come on across the bay. We're a free house, so the beer on the bar is chosen by us, not a brewery, and there are rooms upstairs from £110 a night, room only, if the afternoon turns into an evening and you'd rather not drive.
How to book a Sunday
Book a table for the roast; music is free and unticketed. For a group of ten or more, email hello@therisingsuninn.com and we'll keep a corner.
The Rising Sun Inn, 2 Portmellon Park, Portmellon, Mevagissey, Saint Austell PL26 6PL.