Christmas celebrations will launch in Truro on Friday, November 22, with the fourth Festive Friday and Christmas lights switch-on. 

Organised by Truro Business Improvement District (BID), the fun will begin at 5pm with entertainment organised by the Hall for Cornwall (HFC) on stage in Boscawen Street.

Presenters Johnny Cowling and Lucy Start will take over for the lights switch-on at 7pm, with special guests including cast members from the HFC Christmas show Jack and the Beanstalk and event sponsor Coodes Solicitors. Live music will follow until 8.15pm. 

Truro Christmas Market be open from 9am until 9pm on Lemon Quay, and many shop windows will be decorated with Christmas reindeer lights.

A collaboration between Truro Farmers Market and Cornwall Event Cabins, the market will run daily until Christmas Eve, showcasing local food, drink, arts and crafts from traders across Cornwall in festive wooden cabins set against a backdrop of Christmas lights and music. 

Boscawen Street will also host stalls on Saturdays and Wednesdays from November 23, courtesy of Cornwall Shop Small, Truro Farmers Market and Truro BID. There will be traffic-free streets and live entertainment.

A Father Christmas Parade will take place on Wednesday, November 27 at 6.30pm, and will include families who have made a Christmas lantern at a City of Lights workshop at the Hall for Cornwall on Saturday, November 16. To book a place, visit www.hallforcornwall.co.uk/whats-on

The parade coincides with the first of four Wednesday Late Night Shopping events. Truro Park & Ride will be operating a later service on Festive Friday and late-night Wednesdays with the last service leaving the city at 9.30pm. Due to road closures, services towards Tregurra Park will depart from River Street and services towards Langarth Park will use Victoria Square.

Father Christmas returns to Truro for eight dates at the Royal Cornwall Museum from Saturday, December 7, with a 45-minute family storytelling and grotto experience presented by Coppice Theatre. Tickets will be on sale from Monday from www.coppicetheatre.co.uk

Truro BID Manager Alun Jones urged residents and visitors to shop in person on the high street. Stewart Girvan from Cornwall Event Cabins added: “With the city having Cornwall’s biggest Christmas market, people don’t need to go to Exeter or Bath – Truro is the place to be!”

Truro City Council will also host two free firework displays on New Year’s Eve, best viewed from Lemon Quay. The children's display kicks off at 7.30pm, with a discount scheme organised by resident Paul Caruana and Truro town crier Lionel Knight helping with the countdown. This will be followed by a midnight firework display.

For further details, visit the Visitor Information Centre in Boscawen Street, follow @visittruro on social media, or see www.visittruro.org.uk