Thousands take part in Cornish Montol Festival

Montol means solstice in Cornish

Thousands of people took to the streets of Penzance on the longest night of the year on Saturday.

The Montol Festival has been held in the town since 2007 and is a revival of different traditional mid winter customs.

Montol means solstice in Cornish and coincides with the winter solstice.

Stephen Reynolds, the Mayor of Penzance, said it had become a "highlight of the year" and brought the community together.

Thousands of people took part on Saturday

The festival sees people take to the streets of Penzance in costumes with a parade and dancing.

A mask-making workshop had been held on 17 December so people could create masks to wear on the evening.

This year Penzance Council had awarded the Montol Organising Committee £5,000 of grant funding to put towards the festival.