Falmouth Week Friday 7th – Sunday 16th August: What you need to know

Falmouth hands its harbour, streets and skyline over to ten days of sailing and celebration next month, and one evening in the middle carries a rare bonus. On Wednesday 12 August the Falmouth Week Air Display flies over the bay just as a 95% partial solar eclipse dims the western sky. Here is what you need to know before you go, from the racing and the road closures to the trains, the parking and the one rule worth repeating before you look up at the sun.

What the week involves

Falmouth Week runs from Friday 7 to Sunday 16 August 2026, with a mix of activities, shopping and dining around town. Details on shops, places to eat and drink, and accommodation are on the official Falmouth website.

The sailing sits at the heart of it. The racing programme is built to test the most competitive sailors while keeping the friendly feel that welcomes families and newcomers, and it is run by the Port of Falmouth Sailing Association, a partnership of the town’s six local sailing clubs. There is more on the sailing week page.

Onshore has grown into far more than the racing. There is a full schedule of daytime and evening entertainment across the town, from family activities on The Moor to live music each night at the Waterfront Marquee, all set out on the shoreside events page.

The air display on 12 August

The flying begins at 6.15pm with the Royal Navy Raiders, followed by the Aerosuperbatics WingWalkers and closing with The Flying Comrades.

The Royal Navy Raiders are the service’s parachute display team, formed in 1983, and open the evening with a freefall descent trailing coloured smoke and flags towards the harbour. The Aerosuperbatics WingWalkers are the world’s only formation wingwalking team, flying Boeing Stearman biplanes with wingwalkers holding handstands against 150mph of wind as the aircraft loop and roll. The Flying Comrades close the display, a formation aerobatic pair flying Yakovlev Yak-52 aircraft through tight passes over the bay. The display is subject to weather conditions and Civil Aviation Authority approval.

“Three incredible display teams performing above Falmouth Bay as Cornwall experiences its deepest solar eclipse in over 25 years will be truly unmissable,” said Falmouth Week Chair Richard Gates.

Getting here by train

Arriving by rail, change at Truro and take the Maritime Line, the twice-hourly service between Truro and Falmouth. The journey takes about 20 minutes. Trains will be busier than usual, so allow extra time, and you can plan your journey and check the last train on the GWR website.

Falmouth Town station will be closed on Wednesday 12 August. Falmouth Docks station has a longer and safer platform and better management for the large numbers expected, including a managed queuing system, so all services will terminate there on the day. When booking, make sure your ticket is to Falmouth Docks rather than Falmouth Town.

Parking

There are several car parks across Falmouth, listed on the Cornwall Council car parks page. Church Street car park will be closed for the whole of the festival.

Accessible parking is available at the bottom of Killigrew Street next to The Moor, at Grove Place next to Events Square and Discovery Quay (a short-stay car park), at the Maritime Museum car park, which has a number of disabled bays, and at Town Quarry, where the Go Cornwall No. 60 shuttle bus runs to Prince of Wales Pier roughly every 20 minutes. A Changing Places facility sits on the corner of the Grove Place car park, with the access code available by calling the Town Council on 01326 315559, or from the answerphone message if no one picks up.

Blue badge holders who need accessible parking for the air display should contact the Town Team in advance on 01326 313553 to be told where the reserved blue badge parking is. Anyone with a severe mobility issue can call Event Control on 01326 313033 during Falmouth Week for help.

Road closures

Roads close across town at several points during the week. The Pink Wig Mermaid March closes a run of streets from Greenbank through The Moor to Church Street on Friday 7 August between 5pm and 8pm. The Carnival closes a wider set of roads on Saturday 8 August between 6pm and 8pm, with Grove Place and Bar Road staying shut until 9.30pm.

For the air display on Wednesday 12 August, Cliff Road and the seafront, along with surrounding roads, Pendennis Rise and Castle Drive, will be closed from 3pm to 9pm.

On the water and in the air

A temporary vessel exclusion zone will be in place from 5.30pm until the display ends, marked by large yellow race markers. No unauthorised vessels may enter, anchor or pass through it during that time. A drone restriction also covers the whole of Falmouth for the duration of the display.

Falmouth will be extremely busy, so allow extra time and use public transport where you can. There will be delays after the display, so it is worth wandering into town to enjoy what Falmouth has to offer before heading home.

Watching the eclipse safely

The 95% partial eclipse begins around 6.15pm, reaches its peak just after 7pm low in the western sky, and ends around 8pm. Because the sun sits low on the horizon at its peak, a clear, unobstructed view to the west matters, so higher ground and open coastal spots beat anywhere hemmed in by buildings or trees.

Looking directly at the sun without the right protection can cause permanent, painless damage to your eyesight, even when it is cloudy. Ordinary sunglasses are not safe however dark they are, because they cut glare while still letting harmful solar radiation through.

There are two safe ways to watch. The first is a specialist viewer, genuine eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer meeting the ISO 12312-2:2015(E) safety standard, avoiding uncertified products sold online and never using anything scratched, torn or damaged. The second is indirect viewing, a homemade pinhole projector onto paper, or the sun’s image cast through a colander or the gaps in tree leaves.

There is full advice in the UK Health Security Agency’s guide to watching the eclipse safely.