Up to 10,000 handmade poppies are to flutter down through Truro Cathedral next month in one of the most poignant events of Remembrance Week.

On November 11 at 11am, after a two-minute silence, more than 10,000 poppies, representing the Cornish war dead and made by Cornwall’s schoolchildren, will float down to the cathedral floor from the central tower balcony.

Between November 3 and 13 the cathedral will be holding a festival of commemorative arts events to mark the centenary of the start of the Great War.

“Cornwall Remembers” is Truro Cathedral’s four-year commemoration of the centenary of World War One and consists of a range of worship and other linked events taking place from 2014 through to 2018. A key part of that remembrance process will take place in the cathedral during Remembrance Week this year.

Headlining the event is the former MP and cabinet minister, Michael Portillo, who will be one of three lecturers examining World War One, each from different aspects. His lecture, on Monday, November 3, at 7pm, will explore the role that railways played in determining how the war was fought and even how it affected the outcome of the war itself. Tickets costing £10 are on sale from Truro’s Hall For Cornwall box office. The other lecturers are Prof Paul Fiddes (Oxford University) on November 4, and Dr Catriona Pennell (Exeter University) on Thursday, November 6.

There will also be two performances, on November 8 and 9 at 7.30pm, of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, where the poetry of Wilfred Owen and words of the traditional Latin Requiem have been set to music. Tickets, costing £15 to £21, are available from the Hall For Cornwall box office A pre-concert talk, between Britten expert, John Bridcut, and BBC Radio 3 presenter, Petroc Trelawney, will take place on the 8th at 6pm in the cathedral chapter house. Tickets must be purchased in advance from the Hall For Cornwall box office.

Three classic World War I movies – All Quiet on the Western Front (November 4), Gallipoli (November 5) and Regeneration (November 6) will be shown on the Big Screen in the cathedral at 9.15pm. Tickets, again, are £5 in advance from Hall For Cornwall or on the door. There will be exhibitions by international St Ives artist Roy Ray, beginning on October 20 and running until November 15.

On November 5, at 7pm there will be a musical tribute to Ivor Gurney, poet, composer and songwriter from Jonathan Carne, Naomi Johnston and David McKee. Tickets costing £10 are available from the Hall For Cornwall, and on November 7, at 1.10pm Luke Bond (assistant director of music at Truro Cathedral) will be giving a free organ recital exploring the effects of the war on the music and personalities of early 20th Century British music. There will be single war poems read on the hour between 10am and 4pm on November 3, and November 7, replacing the usual prayers on the hour