Flying Elvis (Truro City of Lights Festival 2010)

For the last fourteen years Truro has held a City of Lights Festival. This is the first time I have had the chance to go along. There were so many people in the town that I found it difficult to see the whole of the procession, but what I saw was quite impressive.

This is the BBC’s article about the festival:

Truro will once again light up in spectacular fashion for the annual City of Lights festival and parade.

The event sees an illuminated procession of withy and tissue lanterns float through the streets, hand made and carried by professional artists, school children, local community and youth groups.

Now in its 14th year, the City of Lights parade has become an important part of Truro's winter celebrations.

Again this year the festival will coincide with the turning on of Truro's Christmas lights on 17 November.

This year the theme is tales, myths and legends.

Participants, including commissioned artists, school children and members of local community and youth groups, create a giant character lantern which is accompanied by a host of smaller lanterns.

The glowing lanterns are created entirely from tissue stretched across frames of withy - strong yet flexible willow branches.

Also taking inspiration from the tales and legends theme will be the dancers and musicians of Truro School of Samba, on hand to add to the City of Lights' carnival atmosphere.

This year will see the dynamic dance troop and band lead the parade for the sixth time with new choreography and music for the occasion and costumes created for the event funded by a grant from Cornwall Council Community Chest.

Emma Skilton, artistic director of Truro School of Samba, said: "The dancers are delighted to be leading City of Lights again.

"We're hugely grateful to Cornwall Council for their contribution to our costumes and so excited about the new creative scope this has given us.

Suffice to say we'll continue to complement the lanterns and develop the use of lighting in our costumes. We can't wait to wow the audience with our performance."

I took two camera's with me so that I could get some nice pictures, I tried with flash and without flash, but with mixed results, as you can see from the picture above.

Here are a few more pictures:

They also turned on the Christmas Lights

After the festival the lanterns are not destroyed, but are put on display at various places around Cornwall.

So as I was walking through Lemon Street Market I saw that Elvis had been put on display there, so I took a couple of better pictures:

Anyway, it was another good event in Truro.