Christmas in Truro 2024

We are planning a four week event programme for Christmas in Truro, Cornwall, which includes Truro's Christmas Lights Switch-on. The main festive events in Truro which we are organising are: 

• Friday 22 Nov - Festive Friday (Truro's Christmas Lights Switch-on) with entertainment at 5pm presented by Johnny Cowling and Lucy Start and the lights being switched on at 7pm.
• From 27 Nov - Wednesday Late Night Shopping where we'll arrange road closures to create a more enjoyable traffic-free shopping experience and encourage businesses to trade until 9pm.
• Wednesday 27 Nov - The Father Christmas Parade. To celebrate the first late night shopping Father Christmas in his sleigh, dancers, musicians and circus performers will parade around the city at 6.30pm.

In addition to the above, Truro's Christmas Market, brought to the city by Truro Farmers Market will be back on Lemon Quay in Festive wooden cabins from Friday 22 November. As part of the city’s festive markets, we’re working with Truro Farmers Market and Cornwall Shop Small to bring stalls to Boscawen Street. 

On Wednesdays and Saturdays from the 23 November the Boscawen Street Market will feature festive gifts and produce from local and independent makers, along with some street food.

Details about these events are at: www.visittruro.org.uk, the Official Visitor Information Centre. 

Christmas in Truro 2023

We again delivered a four week event programme for Christmas in the city, which included Truro's City Centre Christmas Lights. The main festive events in Truro which we organised in 2023 were: 

 

• Fri 24 Nov - Festive Friday (Truro’s Christmas Lights Switch-on). The event, which had more live music once the lights were switched on at 7pm, marked the start of the festive period. 

 

• Wednesday Late Night Shopping - where we arranged road closures to create a more enjoyable traffic-free shopping experience and encouraged businesses to trade until 9pm.

 

• Wed 29 Nov - The Father Christmas Parade. To continue the excitement following Festive Friday, we organised a new event where Father Christmas and his sleigh, community dance groups, musicians and circus performers will paraded around the city for the first late night shopping.

 

• Wednesdays and Saturdays from 29 Nov - We worked with Truro Farmers Market so that Boscawen St could host some Truro Farmers Market produce stalls, and where we organised street food, and entertainment.

 

• Finding Father Christmas at the Museum. We worked with Coppice Theatre and Royal Cornwall Museum to bring the unique storytelling and grotto experience back to Truro. 

 

Details about these events which we lead were on www.visittruro.org.uk, the Official Visitor Information Centre. 

 

We also distributed over 90 reindeer Christmas Lights to businesses to help them to make their shop windows and / or premises more festive.

 

New for 2023, we brought six large, fun and colourful Christmas lights into the city. Previously situated at Victoria Gardens, the lights were relocated for even more residents and visitors to enjoy. 

 

Christmas Marketing 2023

We promoted Christmas 2023 in Truro via Our Great Little Festive City marketing campaign, which was part-funded with Visit Truro. This included some 6 sheet advertising posters in prime locations to reach pedestrians in Truro and an events flyer which we arranged to be door-dropped to 60k homes across Cornwall.

Truro BID also:

• Purchased radio advertising with Pirate FM to promote Festive Friday 
• Achieved media coverage following our media releases 
   Two BBC Spotlight interviews for Festive Friday, where we also involved the Hall for Cornwall so they could promote Peter Pan.
  •    An interview on Pirate FM about Late Night Shopping in Truro.
  •    Coverage on CHAOS Digital about Christmas in Truro.
  •    An interview to promote Finding Father Christmas on BBC Radio Cornwall.
• Distributed / put up over 140 event posters in city centre businesses or in the public realm.
• Advertised with Cornwall 365.
• Liaised with primary schools to promote Truro's festive offer to parents and carers

Visit Truro also promoted our Christmas events on visittruro.org.uk and @visittruro social media channels.

The events were made possible thanks to the 370 or so Truro Businesses who pay the BID levy.