There will be a very welcome wake-up call for people living near Helston town on May 1.

The popular May Day parade, affectionately known as the ‘unofficial’ Flora Day practice, will this year take place on Wednesday, May 1 – exactly one week before the big day on Wednesday, May 8.

Falmouth Packet: Helston Town Band during the Mayday Parade in Helston last year Helston Town Band during the Mayday Parade in Helston last year (Image: Steve Brickstock)

Helston Town Band will gather outside the Guildhall at 7am on Wednesday and will then proceed up through Meneage Street, to the end of the one-way section where it meets The Parade, at the bottom of Trengrouse Way.

They will then turn around and come back down through the town, turning right at the traffic lights to head through Wendron Street, down through Penrose Road and onto Church Street.

Mayday Parade in 2023 

The band will then turn right at the lights down through Coinagehall Street and then onto the bowling green, which they shall parade around before returning to The Guildhall.

Band members will return at 7pm for the same route again, albeit slightly longer as this year it will extend onto St Johns Road.

For several years, the Mayday Parade through Helston has seen thousands of people line the streets to watch the band march past, with some people seizing the opportunity to dance behind them.

Helston Town Band member Ben Curnow shared when dance rehearsals will take place in the lead-up to Flora Day on May 8.

Ben said: “There are the official Flora Day Association dance rehearsals on Monday, May 6 (Morning and Evening Dances) and Tuesday 7 (Midday Dance), at the Epworth Hall starting at 7.30pm.”