The Launceston community and surrounding areas joined in to mark the celebration of the Cornish Saint, St Piran.

The town’s Tourist Information Centre organised for 320 children from 10 different schools to join in the celebration. The day saw a procession of children and locals through the town square, waving their Cornish flags and being led by the piper, Keith Sutherland.

The mayor provided those in attendance with a speech thanking them for such a wonderful turn out.

The procession then made their way to St Mary’s Church where the children – and the mayor – took part in some traditional Cornish dancing that they had been learning in the run up to the day. The day finished off at Launceston’s town hall where those taking part were provided with a pasty and refreshments kindly provided by Shelly Vanstone of Tesco community and Steve Dutton of Cornwall and Devon Insurance.

Ewan Murray, the Tourist Information Centre Manager instigated the days proceedings as he was surprised of Launceston’s lack of St Piran’s celebrations. He said: “I’ve been here since October and was surprised that Launceston weren’t celebrating St Piran’s day as much, especially considering it’s the ancient capital of Cornwall!”

Ewan and the rest of the team at the Information Centre took it upon themselves, to get more of the community involved. Ewan said: “We went into seven out of the ten schools that attended the day’s proceedings to speak about who St Piran is and asked the children what they already knew.

“It’s really important to pass on these traditions and for me it’s imperative to keep the heratige alive!

“The day was terrific and I think it was thoroughly enjoyed by all that came out.

“We taught the children a dance to perform and it was really interesting to tell the roots of the story to the children.”

The various organisations involved were pivotal to the day’s success and Ewan was keen to point out how much of a community effort it was. He said: “It was a big team effort from all who were involved and as I said it was terrific!”