Falmouth Sea Shanty Guide now out!

Falmouth Shout Sea Shanty Group

With the Sea Shanty Fest just around the corner (15-17 June) the official guide to the Festival has just been launched. Its £4 with proceeds going to the RNLI and is available from a variety of outlets in town - Cornish Store, Visitor Information Centre, Maritime Museum - shortly.


To browse it online click here


To find out more about the festival visit the website here

Falmouth BID Update

Richard Wilcox, Falmouth BID Manager

Arts Fest 7-16^th Sept
The schedule to this new BID funded and organised festival is gathering pace:

·       
* Top names from the world of literature and illustration will be headlining the Book Festival element

·       * Thanks to the efforts of Falmouth Art Gallery who will work closely with BID, the Festival has been awarded an Arts Council grant which will enable top regional artists to create innovative and original installations throughout the town during the week

·        * Art in shops,

·        * Art afloat

·        * A big community draw project and more besides.

BID will extensively promote and market this as we do all other festivals in a concerted effort to raise the profile of Falmouth and drive in extra footfall. Much more will be announced and circulated very soon.

PR

The BID commissioned Press Pack for Falmouth and enhanced sell-in has elicited some very good results - The Sun, BBC Olive, Woman’s Weekly and Sunday Mail have all visited and been hosted, with articles to follow. In the past 7 weeks of BID PR activity alone, over £26,000 worth of national coverage/articles for Falmouth has been secured.

Fal River Festival

A reminder which I’m sure you don’t need, but Fal River Festival kicks off this weekend - another cracking event in our brilliant events calendar. BID as it does for all main festivals now, supports the marketing effort. You can view the schedule of activities here http://www.falriver.co.uk/whats-on/fal-river-festival

Big Lunch
To clarify, the Big Lunch is taking place on Sunday July 1^st in Kimberley Park

The Front
Congratulations to The Front pub voted CAMRA Pub of the Year for the second year in a row. Release enclosed:

The 'Front, in Falmouth, has been voted pub of the year for the second year in a row by members of CAMRA Kernow, the Cornish branch of the Campaign for Real Ale. It's yet another success for the small but perfectly formed pub that last year made it to the final shortlist of four for the national pub of the year title. The pub focuses on selling mostly Cornish real ales, with breweries such as Coastal, Tintagel, Rebel and Chough featuring regularly on a varied beer menu. Most of the beers are dispensed on gravity from barrels on a stillage that was erected for a beer festival a few years back and subsequently was never taken down.

Manager Matt Reay leads a knowledgeable and friendly team who dispense not only great real ales but also a range of bottled and foreign beers plus half a dozen or so draught ciders. He said he owed a lot of success to the staff who created a great atmosphere drinkers love. "Nice people attract nice people," said Matt, enjoying a celebratory pint in the pub's outside area which looks over Custom House Quay to the harbour. "And the range and quality of the breweries and the beers is great."

The lease of the pub is owned by Sean McGee who purchased it when he was running the Grapes pub in Falmouth, where he employed Matt. When asked if would consider setting up another pub on the same lines as the 'Front, he shook his head and pointed to Matt. "I'd need another one of him," he said. A menu of 11 beers was put before the large crowd who attended the presentation ceremony, with a large contingent of CAMRA Kernow members.

The presentation was made by branch chairman, Norman Garlick, who praised Matt's incredible achievement over the past two years. "Matt and his team have done exceptionally well in that not only did they win last year's pub of the year but they've done it this year too. Not only that but they made it into the last four of the national pub of the year contest." He urged non-CAMRA members enjoying the pub's hospitality to join him in a toast to the pub, and indeed in celebrating the success of all Britain's great pubs and hard-working publicans.

Find out more about Falmouth BID here

New Falmouth Guide

The Falmouth Guide has arrived! Well done to all concerned looking good! Pick up copies from the Information Centre and a host of other outlets throughout town in the coming days...


Download it here (it will take a few minutes)


http://tinyurl.com/cankyso

The Blades aerobatic team bring daredevil display to Falmouth

The world’s only aerobatic airline, The Blades, will bring their spectacular daredevil display to the skies above Falmouth harbour this summer, thanks to sponsors Falmouth Harbour Commissioners (FHC).

The Blades are provisionally set to perform at 1815 on Wednesday, August 15, as one of the highlights of Henri Lloyd Falmouth Week. This is the first time the team will perform in Falmouth, in place of the Red Arrows, which couldn’t make it to the town this year because of increased demand across the country.

The Blades are a leading display team of former Red Arrows pilots renowned worldwide for flying precision close formation aerobatics to the highest level, within a dynamic and cutting edge display.

Some of the country’s most experienced display pilots, The Blades are experts in aerobatics. The team started 2012 as world record holders after setting the world record for flying 26 consecutive formation loops at the end of 2011.

Since their debut display at the Beckhams’ pre World Cup party in 2006, The Blades have performed at some of the most prestigious events in the world, including the Bahrain F1 Grand Prix, T4 On the Beach, Cowes Week and the Cannes International Advertising Festival.

The four-aircraft display team flies at a height of between 200ft and 2,000ft and will be best viewed from the same vantage points as the Red Arrows in previous years.

David Ellis, Chairman of Falmouth Harbour Commissioners, said: “We are all delighted to be able to bring something new and exciting to Falmouth in this very special year.

“By sponsoring the display we are able to give something back to the local community which supports us all year round, and provide something extra special for Henri Lloyd Falmouth Week.

“The Blades have a fantastic reputation and we hope to welcome as many people to Falmouth to watch the display as we have done in previous years with the Red Arrows. We will be keeping our fingers crossed for fine weather on August 15.”

The Blades display is 15 minutes long and is thrilling from start to finish. The display contains a fantastic variety of very different aerobatic stunts flown just feet apart and not only demonstrates the great skills of the pilots, but also shows the incredible versatility of the Extra 300 aircraft.

From high rising looping manoeuvres and dynamic 10g formation breaks, to high-speed opposition passes and breathtaking solo aerobatics, the display is thoroughly exciting.

Richard Gates, Falmouth Town Manager and Chairman of the Henri Lloyd Falmouth Week shore-side committee, said: “I am delighted that the Blades will be able to perform at this year’s Henri Lloyd Falmouth Week, so many people work hard to ensure there are a variety of activities throughout the week to cater for all ages and the Blades is a perfect example of this.

“The events include the carnival, the fireworks, the evening entertainment, children’s entertainment as well as of course the racing on the water and much much more.  The Blades will certainly be one of the key highlights.”

Lance Smale, County Chairman of the Royal Air Force Association (RAFA), was instrumental in bringing The Blades to Falmouth. He said: “When I read about the disappointment that the Red Arrows couldn’t make it to Falmouth this year I immediately pictured The Blades performing in the harbour and set about making it happen by introducing them to the harbour commissioners.

“They represent the RAF Association and help us to raise awareness of the charity, which is a cause very close to my heart. I’ve seen The Blades perform and was spellbound watching them – they do things you wouldn’t think could be done with an aircraft. They are real crowd-pleasers and will look spectacular against the backdrop of the estuary.”

As well as sponsoring the Blades FHC plays a major role in ensuring sailors and teams competing in events over the week long festival remain safe, both whilst out at sea and when moored within the harbour.

For more information visit www.falmouthweek.co.uk; Twitter @HLFalmouthWeek and Facebook 'Falmouth Spirit of the Sea'.

Olympic Torch Relay Business Impact

In Falmouth, where final police figures reveal that the events of the day doubled the population, a consumer spend of £1.1 million* is being conservatively estimated.  Falmouth Business Improvement District (BID) Manager Richard Wilcox said: 

Richard Wilcox, Falmouth BID Manager

“Everyone is saying that the 19^th May has been Falmouth’s busiest day in a very long time, comparable to days such as Tall Ships in 1998, and for some younger businesses in the town, this will have been the most profitable day they have ever witnessed.  The ongoing set of events created by local organisations and community members provided an impressive longevity meaning people arrived earlier and stayed later.   The free car parking was a definite draw, allowing people to spend that cash on other items and also ensured they stayed in town for a lengthened period.  People were out until after midnight, enjoying the undeniable Torch buzz, and continually adding to the vital takings of the bars, cafes, restaurants, retail outlets and hotels, for which Falmouth is renowned.  Without a doubt Falmouth businesses have certainly felt the ‘glow’ of the Olympic Torch Relay and seen a major strong economic worth.  It’s our job now to ensure we consolidate the success of this for all involved.”

*Based on Visit Cornwall figures showing an average of £44.33 spend for a day visitor.  The Torch Relay spend estimate figure has been lowered to represent the lower estimated spend of the population of Falmouth however this is a conservative figure as the majority of Falmouth residents were also making the most of the day’s events and utilising local business facilities. Police figures have confirmed that the numbers in Falmouth on 19^th May were 40,000 – therefore doubling the normal Falmouth population of 20,000.

Olympic Torch Day and Falmouth shines!

May 19th 2012, what an historic day for Falmouth! 40,000 people turned out to witness the Olympic Torch Relay as it came through Falmouth. Tonnes of events that were planned really made the most of this once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity. The world's media converged on the town so Falmouth really was THE place to be! 

VIEW IMAGES VIA FALMOUTH FACEBOOK PAGE HERE

"I've never seen anything like it driving into Falmouth. I’ve never seen so many people out on the streets anywhere in my lifetime. I think if Falmouth is any indication of what the torch relay is going to be like in the build up to the games it going to be like nothing anyone has ever seen" - Three time Olympic Gold Medal winning sailor Ben Ainslie