2nd - 3rd December 2011
Lantern-making workshops
A record number of lantern-making workshop sessions have been held this year - 13 in total ! Secondary school students at Dartmouth Academy have been participating and have produced, amongst other fine creations, three life-sized mermaids. Workshops have also taken place at all the local Primary schools - Dartmouth Academy, St John the Baptist, Blackawton, Stoke Fleming and Kingswear.
Blackawton pupils were able to give their lanterns an early outing in the parade to the village bonfire and fireworks display on 12th November.
In addition, local families enjoyed the open workshop held at Dartmouth Academy on Sunday 6th November.
More details and photos on our "lantern workshops" page.
Larger than life
The life-sized mermaids have already been mentioned.
The giant swan, constructed last year by Dartmouth Academy students, has received a make-over by pupils at Blackawton Primary school and also took part in the village parade on 12th November.
The Dartmouth Players will be processing in full costume with a huge willow and tissue dragon which features in this year's pantomime - "Aladdin". Watch out for the scary eyes !
See them all in this year's Candlelit Dartmouth procession on Saturday 3rd December.
Programme now available
The programme for the fifth Candlelit Dartmouth event is now available on our "events timetable" page.
BRNC have confirmed that they'll be able to deliver Santa by boat into the Boatfloat at the scheduled time of 6.05pm on Friday evening. Uniformed cadets from the college will provide a "guard of honour" for Santa. Be there to greet him - with candles, sparklers, torches and other types of light (but no lanterns - please save these for the procession on Saturday).
Townstal Community Partnership have also joined the event this year and are organising the fancy dress competition on Saturday as well as a Christmas lights competition which will be judged later in December.
The last Candlelit Dartmouth ???
After five years at the helm, key members of the Candlelit Dartmouth team are stepping down after this year's event. Unless new volunteers step forward, this will be the last Candlelit Dartmouth event. If you're interesting in keeping the event alive please contact the team.
We're making some changes this year
There are few changes this year as although Santa is arriving on Friday as normal, the lantern procession will now be on Saturday giving each day a special event.
There are changes to the Christmas market too. This year, it will be bigger and better than ever - with over 60 traders taking part. On Saturday , these will be spread around town - not only in Royal Avenue Gardens, but also in the Old Market, by The Quay and in Fairfax Place. Look out for local craft-makers as there are many more this year. In Fairfax Place, the scaffolding and hoarding around the site of thedevastating 2010 fire are being removed but the road remains closed to traffic until after the weekend of Candlelit Dartmouth - providing a great location for stalls , entertainers, musicians and for local traders and townsfolk to celebrate this part of town coming back to life.
Free Park and Ride
The park and ride service will be operational and FREE on Saturday 3rd December from 10a.m . until 8p.m. - thanks to financial support from South Hams District Council. The park and ride is situated at the top of town on the A3122 - adjacent to Dartmouth Leisure Centre (postcode TQ6 0JL).
Procession route
The route of this year's procession will be the same as in the two previous years - again starting in the Old Market. See below for a map of the procession route.
Click here to for a PDF version of the map which you can print. On the day it will be displayed in prominent positions around town.
Don't forget, the procession is moving to Saturday this year. Checkout the Events Timetable for more information.
Candlelit Dartmouth is an initiative originally conceived by the Dartmouth Chamber of Trade and is promoted by Born Hectic Events.
Images courtesy of Nicky Bomby Jim Brown , Dave Cawley, Sarah Duggan, Adam Edsall, Helen Lloyd, Steve Thomas & John Walker.
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