Bolster day is an annual festival held at Chapel Porth cove near St Agnes, Cornwall, on the Sunday before the early Spring Bank Holiday in May. It re-enacts the events of a Cornish legend using giant puppets and local performers. During the day there are also Cornish dance displays and other entertainments.
Bolster was a giant who was said to live near the cliffs at St Agnes. He was also rumoured to eat children, sheep, cattle and people at random. A knight, Sir Constantine, and other local dignitaries challenged Bolster to a fight to the death. Legend says that the fights took place at Chapel Porth and that the giant overcame all who challenged him.
He then fell in love with a beautiful young girl called Agnes and she was the one who finally vanquished him. She asked him to prove his devotion to her by filling a hole on the cliffs with his blood. So Bolster cut himself and did just that. However, the hole was a actually part of a crack in the rock and his blood ran down through the cliff and into the sea - the rocks are still stained red to this day. Bolster then died of blood loss, unable to complete the impossible task.
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