St Piran's Day parade in Penzance
By CMphotogreg | Posted: March 5 2015
THERE was a real hint of spring in the air in Penzance this morning as hundreds of schoolchildren joined the St Piran's Day parade through the town.
THERE was a real hint of spring in the air in Penzance this morning as hundreds of schoolchildren joined the St Piran's Day parade through the town.
With the weather once again smiling on events and with people packing the pavements to get a better look, the parade is not just a celebration of St Piran but seems to herald the end of winter and better times to come.
Janice Taylor, from Penzance, said she tries to watch the parade every year and said: "It's great to see lots of people out and about on the streets of the town – most of them with smiles on their faces.
"The morning really does give you a lift."
Led by the mayor of Penzance, David Nebesnuick, his wife Susan and the mayor's mace bearers and the Grand Bard, Maureen Fuller, the procession, which stretched the whole length of Causewayhead, also included members of Old Cornwall societies, civic dignitaries and the Golowan Band as well as the hundreds of primary schoolchildren – all dressed in black and white – from a dozen local schools.
Each year the number of schools contributing music to the parade seems to grow and the sound of the jaunty St Piran's March resounded throughout the town.
Some of those watching were happy to parade their Cornishness – in cluding a kilted Matt Bennetts, from Godolphin.
He said: "I always come along to enjoy the atmosphere and to support a local town."
After making its way through the centre of Penzance, the parade gathered in Morrab Gardens where, for the first time, the Grand Bard gave a speech and everyone joined in a rousing rendition of Trelawny led by bard Howard Curnow.
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