On Sunday 9 June 2013, Penryn’s College Field, the site of the historic Glasney College, will play host to the town’s first ever Green Fields event, a free showcase of music and merriment along with fun for all the family. 

Green Fields will be jointly hosted by the Falmouth and Exeter Students’ Union, FXU and Penryn Town Council, and is sponsored by Falmouth University and the University of Exeter’s Grand Challenges programme as a means of bringing the whole community together.

“We really wanted to do something for the community and for our students as well,” explains Rich Pearson, FXU’s Vice President - Welfare and event manager for Green Fields.  “We had this great idea of having a really chilled out day towards the end of the academic year where there’s a bit of music, a bar and some food, and some fun activities for the kids as well, and it’s just turned into this fantastic event with loads of bands and local community groups wanting to get involved.  The aim of the Grand Challenges programme is to provide first-year students from the University of Exeter with an exciting educational and social experience at the end of the academic year and Green Fields will provide the ideal social focus for Grand Challenges.”

Green Fields will also tie in with another first for the town, the Penryn Hill Sprint – an on-foot obstacle race from the bottom of Quay Hill to a point in the town centre (on a closed road) that seeks to recreate the famous flight of Lady Jane Killigrew from her husband’s men, providing a fun event for participants and spectators to enjoy. 

“We wanted to stage a fun but mad spectacle that related to an historic event, which people could take part in but would be heard about across the region,” added Rich.  “Falmouth has a reputation for staging fun, off-the-wall events so we thought it was time that Penryn upstaged them!” Deputy Mayor of Penryn, Councillor Gill Grant and Penryn Town Clerk, Michelle Davey have been at the heart of the planning process for Green Fields. “We’ve wanted to do something at College Field for years but have never had the funding or the time to put into it,” explained Councillor Grant.  “At the same time, we’ve always wanted to get students and the universities more involved in what we do in the town, and when the students came to us saying they wanted to do the same, all the pieces just fitted together.”

Green Fields will take place at College Field (adjacent to College Hill and Glasney Terrace) between 10am and 10pm on Sunday 9 June, with a break between 6pm and 7pm when the Hill Sprint will take place in the town centre.

Further details about Green Fields and how to enter the Penryn Hill Sprint will be publicised in the local media and on the Town Council’s website nearer the time.