The St Ives Feast is an ancient tradition that celebrates the consecration of the Parish Church of St Eia in 1434 and offers a rare chance to watch the game of Hurling the Silver Ball, a centuries’ old form of rugby.
2025 Feast Celebrations
| Sunday 2nd February | 11am Church Service and refreshments, St Uny Church, Lelant |
| Sunday 9th February | 11.15am Mayor’s Parade and Church Service, St Ia Church |
| Monday 10th February | Please note to ensure the safety of participants, a road closure will be in place between 9:00 and 11:00. Details of the roads involved are outlined below*
9.15am-9:30am – Procession leaves from the Guildhall |
| 9.30am | Blessing at St Ia Well | |
| 10.30am | Hurling of the silver ball from the St Ia Church | |
| 11am-Midday | Events at the Guildhall | |
| Midday | Return of the Silver Ball to the Mayor | |
| 7pm | Scaleybacks of Hakeybay Guising | |
| 7pm | Feast Monday Rugby Match at St Ives RFC |
On the Monday, each year a civic procession including musicians and schoolchildren make their way through the town’s narrow, cobbled alleyways wearing pieces of ivy in remembrance of St Eia, the patron saint of St Ives (who is believed to have crossed the sea from Ireland on a boat made of ivy) to Venton Ia, the well of St Ia. The parish priest then blesses the ball, made of sterling silver, hammered into two hemispheres, bound around a core of applewood and held together with a silver band. After the blessing, the procession returns to St Ia Parish Church yard for the main event, the Hurling of the Silver Ball, which is one of Cornwall’s oldest customs.
At around 10.30am, the Mayor of St Ives will hurl the ball into the crowd whilst shouting guare wheg ya guare teg (fair play is good play in Cornish). The game, also known as Cornish Hurling, dates back at least one thousand years, and originally involved physical rough and tumble as two teams from different parts of the parish tried to keep possession of the ball. At modern day feast, the game is played by played by children and teenagers, who run around the town and try to keep possession of the ball. The procession slowly returns to the Guildhall. The Councillors drop pennies to the children in the crowd from the balcony, and wait for the clock to strike noon, at which point the child with the ball returns to collect their reward from the Mayor.
* Road Closure: To allow for safe movement of the Feast procession between The Guildhall, St Ia Well and St Ia Church the following roads will be closed between 9:00 and 11:00 on Monday 10th February 2025 TBC
Street-an-Pol; Tregenna Place; High Street; Lifeboat Hill; Wharf Road; Fore Street; The Digey; Porthmeor Hill
The closure will be delivered by Gull Rock Events Limited alongside trained St Ives Town Council Staff and will be managed in such a way as to minimise disruption to the town wherever possible. The maximum length of the closure will be 2 hours.
Winners
2024 Sienna Boughton
2023 Oscar Warmsley
Excerpt from 1974 Borough of St Ives booklet – Feast Day
Videos of Feast Day on our Youtube Channel and below:
1977 – BFI
1991 – Cornish Pasty Man
2011 – St Ives TV
2013 – St Ives TV
2015- St Ives TV
2016 – St Ives TV
2017 – St Ives TV
Images courtesy of St Ives Times & Echo, Nick Pumphrey, Nik Read, Tobi Carver St Ives Times & Echo, Greg Martin-Cornwall Live
Fully Accessible – flat access and lifts available.
Partially Accessible – Some slopes, steps and rough ground.
Not Accessible – Steps, rough ground and steep access. Not suitable for persons in a wheelchair.