A weekend of fun activities will be popping up in unusual spaces across Cornwall to ignite creativity in local communities as part of a national celebration of culture.

Workshops on crocheting in Port Isaac, lego fun day in Bodmin and creative watercolouring in Penzance will be organised for the Fun Palaces annual weekend of celebration from October 4 and 6, which is funded by The National Lottery Community Fund.

Grease sing-along screening and learning how to create your own species of butterfly in Redruth and stitching your own book design in Helston will also be held.

Isobel King, Museum of Cornish Life Fun Palace in 2022, said: “Whenever I think of the autumn, straightaway I think, ‘Fun Palaces!’ I think it’s just a really lovely way to get people involved in a space, in our case, and I really like the idea behind Fun Palaces: to have a go at things, to experiment, and to have fun”.

Ellie Allen, St Rumons Social Club, Redruth Cornwall Fun Palace in 2023, added: “The whole thing has brought the community together because we’ve got people here that don’t normally come to the social club.”

Fun Palaces director, Amie Taylor, said: “Over the last 10 years, more than 45,000 people have organised around 2,600 fantastic events across the UK attended by over 850,000 people. It's that exciting time of year, where Fun Palaces pop up on the map all over to the UK. I was one of those people, having made Fun Palaces myself in previous years.

“It's a moment for people to come together, and shout about the brilliance of their community and local area, creating free access to cultural participation, where people can connect, discover new and interesting creative opportunities and enjoy doing it all together - it's a moment to say 'culture belongs to all of us'.

“Each ‘Fun Palace’ is community led event that showcases the brilliance of those living in each local area and we’ve found that people are keen to share their skills, whether that's junk modelling, dancing, sharing recipes or languages, DIY, singing or something else, all in the name of building community."

Many Fun Palace venues work in partnership and collaborate with neighbouring organisations such as the Bodmin Town Council, The Writers Block, Wooden Box, Cornwall Butterfly Conservation each offering a chance for local people to benefit from the facilities and expertise at these larger scale organisations.

For more details, visit: funpalaces.co.uk/find-a-fun-palace/