Host of golden blooms at Mawgan Daffodil Festival: PICTURES

Beginning on Saturday Valentine’s Day, visitors to the three-day event showed the love, with 650 people visiting on both weekend days – more than 50 per cent up on the last festival.

Wendy Bailey described the event as “phenomenally successful,” describing how Sunday afternoon was so busy that at one point no one could get either in or out the venue of St Mawgan in Meneage Church.

The 12th century building was filled with more than 8,000 daffodils, featured as arrangements and as displays.

Fears that the “green pencils” would not bloom in time for the festival proved unfounded, with the bright yellows lighting up the church, although there were slightly fewer varieties than at past events due to the cold weather preventing some from growing.

The flowers, as usual, came from the festival’s main sponsor, RH Scrimshaw and Sons.

Mrs Bailey told the Packet: “It looks gorgeous as usual. At the moment I’m a bit gobsmacked by it all. There were so many people who said ‘It’s wonderful, it’s really lifted my spirits.’ “There were lots of people who hadn’t been before – and lots who had.”

Visitors could view equipment used in the collection of flowers more than 50 years ago, listen to music from local musicians and admire displays of paintings, photographs and embroidery all based around the golden blooms.

Pupils from Garras Primary School also got involved, providing a display of 56 paintings and poems on a daffodil theme.

Music included Christine Robertson playing dulcimer and singing medieval and folk music on Saturday morning, Cornish male voice group Thraw’d Together on Saturday afternoon, classical guitarist Richard Collington and harpist Jade Hamzelou at lunchtime on Sunday and the Maen Voes Choir from St Keverne and Andrew Woods playing organ on Sunday afternoon.

Thraw’d Together were as popular as always, while new choir Maen Voes, which only formed last September, was another stand out hit; at one point more than 200 people were in the church listening.

Bells rang out to mark the start of the festival, with Rev Heather Aston giving the opening blessing. On Sunday a Celtic evening service was held at 5pm, taken by the Rector, the Rev Lesley Walker, at which the Bishop of St Germans, the Rt Reverend Chris Goldsmith, was the preacher.

This year, for the first time, the festival was also open on Monday, for those who wanted to avoid the peak of the crowds and find it easier to park.

Mrs Bailey added: “We are grateful to the many local businesses that have sponsored this event.”

A full list of these was available in the festival programme and in the church.