It's always an honour to be invited to an event as a 'special guest' and this was no exception.

The awards night, hosted this year at The Hall for Cornwall in Truro, is about recognising Cornwall's young upcoming talent in so many fields, be it sport, music, creative writing, engineering, technology etc and, most importantly, supporting these individuals with the financial help.

Mild, calm and dry weather conditions favoured this years Lantern Parade, led by St Pinnock Brass Band, as it made its way through the town towards Looe beachfront for another evening of music and entertainment.

At the beachfront the children of Looe Primary School, under the guidance of Performing Arts Teacher Mrs Brewer, sang hymns both acapella and with the support of the brass band to the enthusiastic applause of the huge crowd that filled the square and lined the walkways.

Looe mayor, Cllr Stephen Remington officially welcomed the crowd whilst The Reverend Ben Morgan-Lundie, Rural Dean of West Wivelshire, led prayers and hymns.

As the countdown to 'Lights Up' commenced Looe's Carnival Royalty excitedly prepared to press the 'Big Red Button' and illuminate town to huge cheers from the crowd followed immediately by a spectacular fireworks display from Banjo Pier and a fire juggling performance on the beach.

This is the fourth year we have fronted this event and without doubt it gets bigger and better each year thanks to the huge amount of work and hours put in by council staff, local organisations and volunteers.

It was a busy old weekend for the Liskeard and Looe Radio Roadshow as we took our place onstage as part of this years' celebration in the town square.

This year we saw the introduction of the elevated stage and much enhanced PA setup provided courtesy of JHAV tech solutions and funded by Liskeard Town Council.

The evening commenced at around 5pm as we launched into a medley of classic seasonal tracks to entertain the rapidly growing crowd who had braved the uncertain weather conditions, it seemed everyone was in great spirits.

It was important to us that all 23 groups of lantern-bearers, including the fabulous stilt-walking Rainbow Circus, were recognised for their efforts and introduced loudly to the crowd and, as they weren't going to be passing my commentary point, I just had to make my way along the line to greet them, and what a long line it was! The further I went the more I feared my mic would cut out but I need not have been concerned.

Whilst I was occupied downtown, back uptown the stage was being transformed for the eagerly-anticipated performance of Liskeard Community Choir who delighted the crowd with some classic carols to take us up to that all-important countdown to 'Lights Up' led by Mayor Cllr Christina Whitty and her Deputy Cllr David Braithwaite who has personally funded the town Christmas tree for the last three years.

Once again, a great night where the weather held and the huge crowds went away happy.