THE winners of the first Falmouth Spring Festival Window Display Contest have been crowned.

A new addition to the festival for 2019, it saw 18 shops, galleries, eateries and salons take part, with Trago Mills, Inkfish and un_rap being crowned the winners.

Retailers in the town were encouraged to get creative by dressing up their windows along a spring theme.

The competition was organised by Falmouth BID as part of the Falmouth Spring Festival with the judging panel made up of Falmouth Mayor Cllr Grenville Chappel, Steve Smith, editor of the Falmouth Packet, and Naomi Morant from the Falmouth Town Team.

“We asked for imagination, colour and originality and the businesses certainly delivered,” said Naomi.

“We had everything from fresh flowers to paper mache animals, cardboard daffodils to tissue paper kites. Every window had clearly been lovingly designed and handcrafted which meant the judging process was particularly tough.”

Falmouth BID teamed up with local partners who generously donated prizes for the window display contest – a £50 Seasalt voucher, afternoon tea for two at The Greenbank Hotel and dinner for two at Rick Stein’s Fish, Falmouth, were all up for grabs.

The displays will be kept up for the duration of the festival, giving people plenty of time to see them for themselves.

The businesses that took part were: Vintage & Bloom, un_rap, Posh Pants, Baker Tom’s, The Black Pearl, Falmouth Bookseller, March Hare, Huddle Café, Cornwall Art Galleries, Tea By The Sea, Inkfish, Waves Hairdressing, RTP Surveyors, The Cornish Store, Beside The Wave, Shubie Surf, Oggy Oggy Pasty Co and Trago Mills.

Falmouth BID thanked all of the businesses who participated in the competition, as well as Seasalt, Rick Stein’s Fish Falmouth and The Greenbank Hotel for their continued support and the judges.

Funded and organised by the Falmouth Business Improvement District (BID) and sponsored by the University of Exeter, the Falmouth Spring Festival is the first main event on Falmouth's annual calendar.

Celebrating Falmouth’s coast and culture through a host of music, dance, sporting events, walks and ‘spring clean’ activities, the festival takes place at numerous venues across the town.

The festival also has a strong community ethos, with schools, businesses, volunteer groups and charities all involved and working in partnership with the Falmouth BID to celebrate and conserve Falmouth’s special environment in as many innovative ways as possible.

Other festival highlights include:

• Friday, March 15 and Saturday, March 16 – Spring Clean Days

• Sunday, March 17 – games and fitness on The Moor

• Sunday, March 17 – rockpooling on Castle Beach

• Monday, March 18 to Friday, March 22 – Science in the Pub

• Saturday, March 23 and Sunday, March 24 – Spring Flower Show

• Throughout – guided walks programme

The full Falmouth Spring Festival schedule and guide can be viewed and downloaded online at www.falmouth.co.uk