St Ives will be holding its annual celebrations to commemorate the anniversary of the consecration of the parish church in 1434.

The Feast celebrations will be staged on Sunday, February 4 and Monday, February 5.

The Mayor’s Parade and Church Service will be held on the Sunday. The Mayor’s Party, accompanied by councillors and their guests, will walk in Procession via Tregenna Place and High Street to the parish church for the service at 11.30 am. 

The Pendeen Silver Band will lead the Procession and representatives of the local organisations are welcome to join in the Procession. ‘Official Colours’ may be carried. 

A Mayoral procession will also be staged on the Monday, which will leave The Guildhall for the Venton Ia Well at Porthmeor and, after the short ceremony, including a Cornish Blessing, will return to the Parish Church by 10.30 a.m. 

Dancers from local schools will dance in the procession, Bagas Porthia will provide the music and take part in the Ceremony at the Venton Ia Wel

The hurling of the Silver Ball from the wall of the parish church by the Mayor will be staged at 10.30am.

This year, the Mayor will hurl the ball from the north corner of the church yard towards the corner of Lifeboat Hill and Wharf Road, due to the high tide and potential lack of beach. 

Once the ball is caught by one of the waiting crowd, it will be passed from one to another through the streets of the town.

The person holding the Silver Ball at noon will take it to the Mayor at The Guildhall and will receive a reward of a silver coin. 

Friends of the Edward Hain Memorial Hospital coffee morning will be staged at the Western Hotel between 10am and 12.30pm.

The distribution of pennies to children under seven years of age from the steps of the St Ives Guildhall will be held by the Mayor and Deputy Mayor at 11.30am.

The return of the Silver Ball to the Mayor at the Guildhall and pennies distributed to young people aged seven years and above from the balcony of St Ives Guildhall will be staged at noon.

Details of the Feast Monday Rugby match are to be confirmed.

The Voice recently reported that an attempt to make one of the oldest traditions in Cornwall ‘safer’ by replacing pennies thrown to children with chocolate coins and a silver ball with tangerines wrapped in tinfoil has been described as “health and safety gone mad.”

The comment came as St Ives Town Council discussed a safety review of St Ives Feast and, in particular, the age-old game of hurling the silver ball, an ancient form of rugby which originally saw two teams of men playing for the ball.

In modern times the rough and tumble fun sees local children and teenagers trying to keep possession of the silver ball.

The meeting became heated at times as some councillors believed changes should be made to make the event safer while others scoffed, saying it had been played for years with no incident.

The Cornish hurling will start with the Mayor of St Ives throwing the ball into the crowd on the beach at Lambeth Walk, while shouting “guare wheg ya guare teg” (“fair play is good play” in Cornish).

The procession then returns to the Guildhall where councillors drop pennies from the balcony to the children in the crowd, and wait for the clock to strike noon at which point the child with the ball returns to collect their reward from the Mayor.