Falmouth Steve Winnan switch on the Christmas lights

A special evening of song, performance and community spirit marked the start of a packed festive programme for the town.

Organised by Falmouth Town Council and Falmouth BID, with support from a variety of people and organisations, the gathering is one of the highlights of an already over stuffed Christmas stocking full worth of an events calendar.

The feel-good evening began with a performance by Sing Choir on The Moor music stage while the parade, led by Kernow Pipes and Drums and followed by Betty Stogs on a bicycle along with hundreds of local primary schoolchildren, left Events Square and made its way through town.

Once the parade party arrived on The Moor, the music continued, as each of Falmouth’s five primary schools took it in turns to sing carols and songs to an appreciative festive crowd of over a thousand people.

Compered by Neil and Saffy from Hits Radio Cornwall, the audience also heard from a variety of individuals who are working alongside the Town Team to curate the varied Christmas programme this year.

This included Nicola Burgess regarding the Christmas Tree Festival, which is taking place at the Princess Pavilion, Cornwall Air Ambulance’s Heli 2 Appeal, Martin Foy from the Harmony Choir, the cast of Miracle Theatre who this season are performing Duffy and the Stiltskin in the town, Martyn Addinall from Falmouth Fire Station who are organising a Santa’s grotto drive through and Richard Wilcox from the Town Team reference the exciting Festive Weekend.

The highlight of the evening is of course the actual Christmas lights switch-on, and this year, following a variety of worthy entries from the Falmouth community, Mr Steve Winnan was successfully nominated.

As a cancer exercise specialist, Mr Winnan has been responsible for delivering the Active Pants group exercise programme for cancer survivors for over12 years. This is a charitable initiative funded by Pants Cancer, which has made a huge difference to the lives of hundreds of people who are undergoing or recovering from cancer treatment.

As Steve Winnan, along with his family and friends, switched on the Christmas lights for 2024 accompanied by a huge cheer from the crowd, the ever-popular Rock Choir took to the stage, rounding off the evening with an energetic performance of well-known songs.

Richard Wilcox Executive Director of Falmouth BID said: “Richard Gates and I would like to thank all those who gave up time and energy to make the evening a special one. From Falmouth Town Council staff in particular Hayley Nicholson, Ruth Abraham and Adele Cole, to the many volunteers, as well as the Christmas Working Group, lots of people coming together for the good of Falmouth’s community.

"A huge well done to all the children who took part and to Steve Winnan for his cancer rehabilitation work in the community over the years.

"A worthy nominee to switch on our Christmas lights this year. We hope you all enjoy the lights, the rest of our festive events programme and have a peaceful and loving Christmas 2024.”

For full round-up of all the Falmouth festive events lined up for Christmas, go to www.falmouth.co.uk.