The Falmouth University Fal River Festival has announced its full line-up with a

ten day programme packed with diverse and entertaining events in celebration of the area's

cultural and natural riches.

The opening ceremony on Friday, May 26, will begin with the annual Beer Fleet arriving at Custom House Quay at 6.45pm, and will continue at Events Square with an evening of street food, craft ales and free live music from The Motown Pirates beginning at 8.30pm.

A highlight of this year's festival will be a series of aerial acrobatic dance displays off the Lookout

Tower at The National Maritime Museum Cornwall, accompanied by a choir of over 60 people, to celebrate the life of Captain William Bligh, on June 2 and 3.

This year Trebah Garden will host a programme of live music in its sub-tropical amphitheatre, while the Pandora Inn will have an evening of sea shanties on Saturday, June 3, in aid of charity.

Falmouth Art Gallery are offering budding artists the opportunity to capture the creeks of the Carrick Roads that inspired paintings by Henry Scott Tuke and Charles Napier Hemy, on the Artists Afloat Cruise on Saturday, May 27, and artists along the river will open their doors during the festival as part of Open Studios Cornwall.

The festival will run in conjunction with Flushing Arts Week from May 28 to June 3, while on May 31 The Poly will host the Fisher Knight’s Tale, a puppet theatre followed by a pop-book craft workshop for little artists.

Kernow Education Arts Partnership will present An Evening of Stories, Song and Poetry written by and inspired by Charles Causley, at the Tresanton Chapel in St Mawes on May 30.

Swamp Circus will be telling tales of Penryn’s ancient port and its pirate past with live opera, dance and trapeze artists on board a sailing ship with The Pirate Queen on May 26.

The Kernow Astronomers return to give the public a glimpse at the cosmos using professional

telescopes at Penperth Farm on the Roseland on June 2, Cornish Diving School are offering guided snorkel and diving tours, and Cornwall Fishing Adventures are giving a taste of sea fishing on May 27 and June 3 off The Greenbank Hotel Quay.

WeSUP Paddleboard Centre are laying on an a whole range of activities throughout the festival, at Gyllyngvase Beach, Canoe Cornwall and Truro and Penwith College are looking for volunteers to help clean up the river by canoe on June 2, and there’s a guided walk around the Roseland Peninsula on June 3.

The Kernow King will transform the King Harry Ferry into a floating stage on May 31, and Film on the Ferry will return on May 30 and June 1, showing Sully and Thunderball.

The final day of the festival features the Castle to Castle Swim in aid of the RNLI, starting at Pendennis Castle in Falmouth and finishing at St Mawes Castle on the Roseland Peninsula.

Amy Brocklehurst, the festival's co-ordinator, said: “The Fal River area is not only spectacularly beautiful, it also buzzes with cultural and artistic activity and the festival is our way of celebrating all of that.

“ There are some remarkable events taking place along the length and breadth of the river during the 10 days, and we hope locals and visitors alike will come out in force to enjoy them.”

To find out more about the festival, visit falriverfestival.co.uk