Details of dances, changes and timings for Helston Flora Day 2022

The town's ancient festival will return on Saturday, May 7, after a two-year hiatus due to the Covid pandemic.

Nick Wills, honorary secretary of the Flora Day Association, said: "As it will take place on a Saturday this year, we anticipate the day will be very well attended as people take the opportunity to visit Helston and enjoy our unique event."

This year sees new owners of Lismore welcoming dancers into the garden, after Adam and Sarah Corbridge bought the famous property from former owner of 27 years, Michael Jay.

And that is not the only changes for this year.

In a break with tradition, the band will play the first three refrains of the Flora Dance tune at the start of the Morning Dance outside the Guildhall, while in a stationary position. The intention is to honour all those that the town and its people have lost in the past two years, as well as all around the world, many of whom loved Flora Day, and who the Association said were sadly missed.

There will also be some structural changes to this year’s event, as the organisers try to put some precautions in place as a result of the recent pandemic.

Not all dancers this year will be formed in the Guildhall, with the adult dances split – a proportion gathering in the Guildhall and the majority being formed in procession in the courtyard of the Museum of Cornish Life, in order to maintain the current government guidelines for events.

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Each of these dances will start at their traditional times of 7am, 12 noon and 5pm, and spectators have been asked to be aware of the cordon that will be put in place to guide all those participating as they are led around the Guildhall, past Henlys to their start position.

The same arrangement will be in place at the end of the Midday and Evening Dances, so that dancers can safely return to the museum courtyard on completion. The Morning Dance will return to its tradition end position of Wendron Street as the dancers make their way to the Godolphin Club.

At the start of the Children’s Dance – which will begin at 9.50am this year, reverting back to the more traditional time – the second band will stand and play at the junction of Wendron Street and Meneage Street, by Lloyds Bank. Spectators are asked leave space for them.

The Children's Dance is reverting to its traditional start time

During the Children's Dance, Mr and Mrs Corbridge have agreed that the dancers may enter the property by the small gate in Cross Street and then proceed immediately around to the driveway of the house, to exit onto Cross Street again without going into the gardens.

The second band will remain outside the Grylls Monument and follow the dancers up Coinagehall Street.

Parents have been advised that the Children’s Dance will finish at approximately 11.20am and that they should be in the appropriate location to collect their children from that time.

Access to the Lismore gardens will be available to spectators for the Midday Dance from 11.30am and later in the day at 4.45pm for the Evening Dance.

Mr Wills said: "We would like to welcome Mr and Mrs Corbridge as the new owners of Lismore and look forward to many happy years sharing our festival with their ownership of the historic Helston residence.

"Additionally, the Association is delighted that we will be able once again to enter the Old Vicarage this year, and offer special thanks to Sir Nicholas and Lady Serota."

The route of the Midday Dance will be largely as 2019, beginning at the Guildhall and proceeding up and down Meneage Street, and on through Church Street. The dance will enter Lismore Gardens as usual, then proceed after Penhellis Gardens via Cross Street through the Old Vicarage gates, through the garden then on to Leslie House, finally leaving Lady Street onto the bowling green and returning to the Guildhall.

Mr Wills said: "Entry into properties and gardens on the route of the dances is a great privilege to us and we would remind the public that it is by courtesy of the owners who retain the right to close their gates/doors if they so wish. We ask you to respect their properties."

Lismore House and its grounds will be opened by new owners Sarah and Adam Corbridge

The Hal an Tow will be following the same route as normal, starting at 8.30am after the Morning Dance finishes, beginning at St Johns Bridge, in St Johns Road. The route then will go up towards the Grylls Monument at the bottom of town, then proceed to Number 1 Cross Street – one of the oldest buildings in the town.

After this, the mobile pageant – which tells the story of St Michael defeating the devil, St George killing the dragon and the arrival of St Piran to Cornwall – will then head towards Penrose Hill and will spend some time outside the historic Old Green School, which now belongs to CAST. They will then move on to Meneage Street, the bottom of Trengrouse Road, and then back towards the Guildhall where they will finish, in time for the Children's Dance.

Mr Wills said: "The Association is pleased that Gillian Geer will once again organise the Hal an Tow." 

While Cornwall Council has promised to address the road surfaces in the town in the run up to the event, the stewards of the dance have reminded those taking part in the dances, as well as those watching, that there may still be some uneven surfaces under foot, in addition to the town's kennels running alongside many of the roads to watch out for – although the water in them will be turned off for the day.

Mr Wills went on to add: "As ever, the stewards are delighted that the Helston Town Band will be in attendance, playing the tune as only they know how, and we would also like to take the opportunity of congratulating them on their recent successes at the West of England Brass Band Championships.

"We thank them for encouraging so many young musicians to join with the older members, so that in years to come we will still have a full complement of players.

"We would ask the public to support the band by giving generously to the collectors who will be preceding the dances. The cost of buying instruments and supporting our band is ever increasing, especially this year as they travel to Cheltenham in September to compete in the National Brass Band Championships."

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Greenery to decorate properties with will be available from the car park to the rear of Boots from around 8.30pm on Thursday, May 5 and then a smaller delivery on the morning of Friday, May 6 at the Anson Gun by the museum at 10am.

Cornwall Council has asked that property owners take down any greenery from their buildings before 8.30am on Sunday, May 8 so that the collection teams can remove it from the streets. Any greenery left out after that time may not be collected.

The Association has also reminded people that there are road closures and parking restrictions in force on Flora Day from 6.30am. These take effect from early in the morning and the Association asks that cars are not parked in the streets overnight on the evening of Friday, May 6, as they may cause an obstruction early in the morning of Flora Day.

"We warmly welcome you to Helston to enjoy our unique and ever popular spring festival on Saturday, May 7," said Mr Wills.