Awards

The Gorsedh Kernow Awards seek to foster and promote the national Celtic spirit of Cornwall, through awarding Awen Medals for outstanding creative and community work that expresses Cornish identity and culture.
They are divided into two categories: “Adults” and “Young People”.

The Gorsedh Kernow Awards for Adults are intended to recognise and celebrate a wide range of Cornish cultural activity including new media technologies. There are two sections.

The Open Submission section allows anyone to submit work their own work in some key aspects of Cornish culture: Cornish Language or Dialect writing, Cornish Study, and Creative Work. After specialist adjudication, successful entrants will be awarded a Gorsedh Kernow Certificate of Recognition. The awards panel may use its discretion to award one prestigious Awen medal in any category. Please see the entry form for details of each category.

Our Gorsedh Kernow Awards for outstanding work in Creativity or Community are not open to self-submission but everyone is invited to nominate individuals or groups for work in either category that is exceptional or outstanding, by virtue of length of service, reach or scope of achievement. Nominations, with written citations, must be on the official form.

2026 sees the reintroduction of two historic Cornish Language awards – the Mordon Caradar Rosebowl for prose writing and the Cornish Crystal for poetry. Entries should be on the titles set and must be submitted under a pseudonym. These are for higher level writing and will be judged accordingly. Learners at all levels may submit entries to the general awards. Please see the form for details.

A special awards ceremony is held on the Friday of the Esedhvos week before the Gorsedh Kernow ceremony on the first Saturday of September. The awards ceremony includes displays, presentations and performances by award winners. The Rosebowl and the Cornish Crystal only will be presented in the Gorsedh circle during the ceremony. Full details will be posted in the Esedhvos Programme nearer the date.

The Young People’s Scheme is open to whole school classes, groups and individuals. There is a range of categories including music, dance, Cornish language, study projects, art and design, and creative writing. This year we are also working in Partnership with Golden Tree’s Go Cornish programme in primary schools.

The Young People’s Awards are also presented at a special awards ceremony and work may be exhibited at the Esedhvos in September.

Leaflets for the Young People’s Awards give more information. Click here for the leaflet and the form.

Please note that the deadline for nominations for both Adult and Young People’s awards is 5th May 2026.

If you have any further questions, please contact us via these emails:

awards@gorsedhkernow.org.uk

young-peoples-awards@gorsedhkernow.org.uk