The 5th of March marked the National Day of Cornwall known as St Piran’s Day. Saint Piranis the patron saint of tin-miners and has been linked through legend to the discovery of tin and the wealth it brought to Cornwall.
On this day, you may have noticed the St Piran’s flag, the black and white flag of Cornwall, flying high above Launceston Castle. That’s not the flag with a black background and white skull and cross bones, by the way– that’s the Jolly Rodger and represents pirates! The St Piran’s flag has a black background with a white cross and represents the white of the heated tin against the dark ore of the base metal.
Launceston celebrated this day on the 3rd March to ensure that the children and schools could participate. To mark this important Cornish calendar date, Launceston Town Council launched the celebrations with its annual St Piran’s Schools’ Parade. Hundreds of local children paraded through town to entertain the crowd with performances of Cornish songs and dances. Naturally, this included the new ‘Lanson Dance’ as first performed to the then Prince and now King Charles, during last year’s royal visit.
New for 2023 and attended by dozens of locals of all ages, was the ‘Warm Bank St Piran's Day’. Launceston Town Hall was a buzz with Cornish cultural activities including arts, crafts, performance and of course, Cornish nosh! Kernow Bys vyken!
As always, Launceston’s celebrations showcased the wonderful communityspirit of the town. Launceston is a very unique and historically significant gem in Cornwall’s crown and one that remains sparkling due to the caring people that live and work in and around the area, and by those that support its traditions, shops, cafes and places of interest.