ZUMBA fever and magical garden gnomes will be making Falmouth even livelier and lovelier when the second Spring Festival hits town.

They're just two attractions in a packed programme that also includes pop-up gardens, a half-marathon and a chance to get arty.

The event is running from March 17 to 25 and is being spearheaded by the town's Business Improvement District (BID), with support from the West Briton.

BID manager Richard Wilcox said: "The festival is designed to celebrate Falmouth's superb open spaces through art, music, dance, walks and community events."

Throughout the festival the work of Falmouth's magical gardening gnomes – students from University College Falmouth (UCF) – will be the talk of the town as areas in need of a little TLC turn overnight into perfect 'pop-up gardens'.

Meanwhile a clean-up crew will be on a 'guerrilla gardening' mission aiming to beat last year's total of clearing five tonnes of foliage and rubbish, which scooped a Cornwall In Bloom Community Award.

The town will also host its first half-marathon, Run Falmouth, raising money for Cornwall Hospice Care.

Jayne Gray, of the Falmouth District Hotels Association (FDHA), said: "We've built on the success of last year's event, and this year it'll be even bigger and better.

"The FDHA accommodation pack also includes restaurant offers from Oliver's and The Shed, as well as the offers we had last year."

Castle Beach Café will open on March 17 to coincide with the start of the festival and there will be rock pooling sessions on the beach.

Richard Sneesby, of UCF, said: "After the great success of last year's Paint The Town Yellow Day, we're looking forward to making Falmouth even yellower this year.

"It's a great opportunity for our students to make a creative contribution to the festival and, this year, to work with more local schoolchildren and traders."

The festival will also support the historic Spring Flower Show, which is celebrating its 101st year.

Mr Wilcox added: "The festival is the result of the strong community spirit that exists here in this special town.

"Thousands of locals and visitors came to support it last year while at the same time, enjoying Falmouth's great outdoors.

"With the new, action-packed line-up, the Falmouth BID aims to attract even more people both from within and outside Cornwall to experience all that the Falmouth area has to offer," he said.

"We've worked hard to ensure the event has a strong community feel to it and visitors will again see community spring-clean events and the Paint The Town Yellow Day sitting alongside a raft of other exciting events."

He said organisers hoped an early festival would prove a great boost for local businesses at the start of the season.