A “glorious gathering” on the site of Penryn's historic Glasney College brought together local families and students from the two universities for a free fun-filled day of festivities on Sunday.

The Green Fields event was made possible by the Falmouth and Exeter Students' Union, Penryn Town Council, Falmouth University, and the University of Exeter, and was staged to strengthen relations between the university and residents. Judging from the number of families and students who attended, the event can only be described as a sunny success.

“The Falmouth and Exeter Students' Union and our colleagues from Falmouth University, the University of Exeter and our shared services teams extend enormous thanks and warm wishes to the people of Penryn for helping us put together and supporting what was a phenomenally successful event,” said FXU president Rich Pearson.

“College Field was pretty much at full capacity from 11am and stayed that way well into the evening with all age groups thoroughly enjoying themselves.”

The universities funded free activities such as bungee trampolining, Zorb balls and a bouncy castle, all of which proved hugely popular among local children and their families.

For the grown-ups, there was a full programme of music from a range of student bands, jugs of Pimm's and tasty treats to try such as Cornish venison burgers, crepes, hand-pressed lemonade and strawberries and cream.

“The feedback from the local community has been absolutely amazing,” said Penryn’s deputy mayor, Gill Grant.

“The sun shone, the sky was blue, College Field was filled with smiling faces and the event achieved all our aspirations.

“This is what Penryn should be about and raises the bar for other forthcoming community events such as Penryn's new Arts Festival in July and the Gorsedh celebrations in September.”

“As with any event, there are always lessons to learn and build on for the future," added Rich Pearson.

“But we've received overwhelmingly positive comments from lots of local people who want us to make this community gathering an annual event so we shall give that some serious thought and ask them to help us shape whatever comes next.”