Newquay’s Festival and Magical Lantern Parade returns.

Newquay’s Festive Festival is ready to light up the town on Friday 24^th November in a spectacular start to the festive season. Organised and funded by Newquay BID, Newquay Town Council and Newquay Lions, this year’s event is set to be bigger and better than ever before!

It all starts at 4pm with lots of live music and entertainment in the high street, including fire breathers, stilt walkers, dancers, choirs and walking jazz bands. At 6pm Newquay’s very own Daisy Clark will be performing outside Marcus Hill, followed by the Lantern Parade at 6.30pm. The Lantern Parade will be the biggest yet, with even more community members taking part alongside local school children: look out for The Wave Project, the RNLI and representatives from Newquay Community Fire Station with their fire engine! The parade starts at Cliff Road and wends its way through the town to Fore Street: this year, an artist has been running workshops with the local schools on how to make the lanterns so expect them to be even more eye-catching than usual.

At 7pm there’s the Christmas Lights Switch On with some very special guests, including Daisy Clark. The evening then reaches a Christmassy crescendo at 8.15pm, with a spectacular firework display, provided by Newquay Town Council, set to explode over the harbour. There’s also Newquay Late Night Shopping across the town until 8.30pm: if you haven’t thought about Christmas presents yet then this is a perfect opportunity. Newquay’s eclectic high street has both chain stores and independent retailers offering a wide variety of shops, from health foods to pet shops, jewellery stores to bags and accessories, and of course a great variety of quality surf shops selling beanies, mittens, scarves, and other brilliant stocking filler ideas.  Why not take advantage of Newquay’s wealth of cafes, restaurants, bistros, and bars, selling everything from Pan-Asian fusion and seafood to stacked burgers with a festive twist and tasty vegan dishes. There’s also fish and chips and pasties of course! After the fireworks, enjoy some Christmas cocktails, craft beer, mulled wine or bubbles.

Newquay BID Manager, Carla-Marie Jones, says of the event “We are really excited about this year’s Lantern Parade and Christmas Lights Switch On. Last year was a major hit and we’re planning on this year’s being even better. We want to fill the town with festive cheer and a really vibrant atmosphere throughout the high street, ensuring everyone is out and about making the most of the celebrations, the late night shopping and the town’s brilliant bars, cafes, and restaurants.”

For more information about everything going on in Newquay from 24^th November to 1^st January, look out for BID’s Festive Events Guide which is bursting with everything you will need to plan your festive period in Newquay. 8,000 copies of the guide are being published, with 5,000 being distributed in the Newquay Voice on Wednesday 22^nd November. Copies can also be collected from Newquay Tourist Information Centre or digitally downloaded from www.newquaybid.co.uk (available by the 22^nd November).