THE community is invited to wrap up warm and celebrate the start of the festive season in Newquay.

The Newquay Lantern Parade and Trenance Cottages Lights Switch on event is set to return to Trenance Valley on Friday, November 21 from 5.30pm.

Newquay BID, Blystra Arts and Trenance Cottages are organising the event once again for the community to either take part in or watch following the success of the 2024 Trees and Tales event.

The lantern procession will leave Trenance car park at 6pm before making its way to Trenance Cottages in a dazzling display through the valley. The Trenance Cottages switch on event will happen between 6.30pm and 6.45pm.

The façade of the heritage cottages will be lit up alongside its Christmas tree as well as the gardens including the foot bridge over the stream, which will be followed by entertainment from crooner Andy Marshall.

Food will be available from The Garden Café so families can make an evening of it, staying on at the café and cottages to enjoy the entertainment.

Blystra Arts will be working with hundreds of school children and their families throughout November making willow lanterns in the lead up to the event, which all the Newquay schools will attend with their lanterns.

The school and community activity leading up to the event has been funded by Experience Newquay, a Cornwall Council funded project, Coodes Solicitors, who are the main business sponsor of the event and Newquay BID, who will also be supporting with the logistics of the parade and parade management.

The switch on part of the event has been made possible with funding from Cornwall Council’s Community Chest funding.

The team from Blystra Arts has been able to enhance the parade further by linking it into its Stories from the Station project, a Great Western Railway year-long funded scheme. The initiative has allowed the organisation to open workshops out to other community groups including Youth Art Connect and Age UK.

Treviglas Academy will be helping to create a five-carriage steam train lantern made of willow, which will also be paraded through Trenance Valley as part of the project.

There is also a chance for members of the community to make their own lanterns too at several community lantern making sessions which are being run by Blystra Arts.

The Blystra team will stage its annual willow lantern making workshop at the WI Hall on Crantock Street on Saturday, November 15 between 10.30am and 3pm. This will be a drop-in session so there is no need to book. People can show up and make a lantern for the parade.

Ellen Moule from Blstra Arts said: “Last year the parade moved to Trenance Valley and saw record numbers attend to participate in and watch the event which ended with the countdown to the first Trenance Cottages light switch on event.

“This change in location from the town centre to Trenance Valley, making the parade separate from the town’s usual light switch on activity, was well received by the community with the beautiful lakeside location of Trenance Valley enhancing the spectacle of the lanterns and the parade, taking it to another level of wonder and beauty.”

This year’s parade and light switch on activity have been funded by Cornwall Council’s Experience Newquay project, which is part-funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The parade is also funded by Coodes Solicitors, Newquay BID, Cornwall Council Community Chest funding and Great Western Railway.