Goff Richards was commissioned by the BBC to write a piece for a Radio Two Listen to the Band Weekend in the Hall for Cornwall in Truro in 1998. He composed A Cornish Festival and he himself conducted the first performance, given by the Massed Bands of, Bodmin, Camborne, Mount Charles and St Austell on 14th June that year. The music was not published at the time; it was published in preparation for its setting for the 2012 WEBF in tribute to the composer.
There are three movements: 'Cornish Festival', 'Munion', and 'Celebration'.