Short answer: Cornwall's 2026 lantern parades start with Newquay on Friday 20 November, then Looe (listed for Friday 27 November), Mevagissey and Liskeard in late November, Penzance's Humphry Davy parade in mid-December and Lostwithiel just before Christmas. Several 2026 dates are not confirmed yet, so each entry says what is listed and what last year's timings were.
A lantern parade is the gentlest way to start Christmas in a Cornish town. It is free, it happens at dusk, schools and community groups walk through the streets with handmade lanterns, and it usually ends at the harbour or square where the lights are switched on. Almost every town does one in a slightly different way, so here is the lot in date order, with links to the full guide for each. For ticketed light trails in gardens, see our separate guide to Christmas light trails in Cornwall.
How to read the dates. We mark each entry as confirmed (an organiser or listing gives the 2026 date), listed (a listing gives a date but the town has not confirmed it) or last year's pattern (no 2026 date yet, so we show what happened in 2025). Please confirm with the organiser before you travel.
Newquay's lantern parade is in Newquay BID's autumn diary for Friday 20 November, a week before the Christmas lights weekend (27 to 29 November). Lantern-making workshops are listed on Saturday 14 November (10.30am to 1.30pm) and Thursday 19 November (adults, 5.30pm to 9.30pm, £15), so you can make your own. Full guide: Newquay at Christmas 2026.
The lantern parade and lights switch-on is listed for Friday 27 November. The 2025 schedule gives a good idea of the shape: participants gathered at the library and community hub in Millpool at 6.10pm, the parade set off at 6.20pm and crossed the bridge to the seafront, live music started at 7pm, Santa arrived at 7.20pm, the lights came on at 7.30pm and fireworks followed at 7.32pm. Aspects Holidays also lists the 2026 parade as starting from 6pm. Full guide: Looe lantern parade and Christmas lights 2026.
Mevagissey's switch-on is listed for 27 November, though organisers have not confirmed it. Last year's lantern parade was led by St Austell Brass Band at 4pm, with the harbour lights switched on at 6.15pm. Full guide: Mevagissey Christmas lights 2026.
Bodmin's switch-on is listed for 27 November at 6.30pm, with a festive procession through the town. See Bodmin Christmas lights 2026.
Liskeard's Christmas event, Nadelik Lyskerrys (Cornish for Christmas), was held on Saturday 29 November in 2025, with community lantern workshops at the Liskerrett Centre on the three Saturdays before it. The town council had not published 2026 dates where we looked. Expect the same shape: a Saturday in late November, workshops in the weeks before. Full guide: Liskeard lights up.
St Agnes has not published 2026 dates. In 2024 the lights were switched on in Churchtown on a Sunday at 4.45pm, and a late-night shopping evening with a lantern parade and Father Christmas was held on a Friday in early December, 5 to 8pm. See Christmas in St Agnes.
Held on Friday 12 December in 2025, from St John's Hall along Market Jew Street to the Humphry Davy statue, with pupils from eight local schools. The 2026 date has not been announced. Full guide: Humphry Davy Lantern Parade. Penzance's main lights are listed for Saturday 28 November: Penzance lights switch-on.
Mousehole's Harbour Lights run from 10 December to 3 January, and Montol, Penzance's midwinter festival, is around the solstice on 21 December. Earlier years have included lantern-and-mask processions on Montol Eve. See Montol and the Mousehole lights.
The Dickensian Evening is on Thursday 10 December 2026, 6pm to 10pm: Lostwithiel Dickensian Evening. Separately, in 2025 the town held a candle-lit carols and lantern parade on Tuesday 23 December: the parade began at The Kings Arms at 6.30pm, walked along Fore Street to the Parade Gardens, and carols started just after 7pm; the road closed from 6pm. Free lantern workshops were held in the Church Rooms on two days earlier in December, with a donation of £5 or more per lantern requested. No 2026 details had been published when we looked.
If you miss the winter ones, the big summer lantern procession is St Just's Lafrowda Day on Saturday 17 July 2027: Lafrowda Day 2027.
Most parades are open to anyone who wants to carry a lantern, and the workshops in the weeks before are the way in. Look for sessions at community centres and churches: in 2025 Liskeard held them at the Liskerrett Centre and Lostwithiel in the Church Rooms. Newquay's 2026 workshops are listed for 14 and 19 November. Many ask for a small donation per lantern. If you cannot make one, you can simply walk behind the parade or watch from the side.
For every town's switch-on, markets, swims and festivals in one place, see Christmas and New Year in Cornwall 2026 and what's on in Cornwall in November.
Newquay's is listed for Friday 20 November 2026 in Newquay BID's autumn diary, a week before the Christmas lights weekend.
It is listed for Friday 27 November 2026, but the town had not confirmed it when we looked. In 2025 the parade set off from Millpool at 6.20pm and the lights came on at 7.30pm.
In 2025 it started at St John's Hall, went down Market Jew Street and ended at the Humphry Davy statue, where the crowd sang Happy Birthday to Davy.
Yes. Most parades are open to anyone, and the lantern workshops in the weeks before are the way to make one. Schools take part in many towns.
The parades themselves are free to watch. Workshops sometimes ask for a donation per lantern, and Newquay's adult workshop on 19 November is listed at £15.
A lantern parade is a free procession through a town street. A light trail, such as Heligan, Eden or Enys, is a ticketed walk through a garden at night.
Dates, prices and times are the organisers' to change — check the official page before you travel or book. Spotted something we've got wrong? Tell us and we'll fix it.
Pick a town and plan the day around who's with you.
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