FALMOUTH Town BID has announced a parade will be taking place through Falmouth for St Piran's Day in March.

The parade will take place on Monday, March 6 and will leave The Moor at 10.00am via Webber St, out along the Prince of Wales Pier and through the main street to Church Corner, where there will be music and entertainment upon arrival. 

With the Covid-19 pandemic forcing the celebrations of the last few years to take place virtually or not at all, organisers were delighted when last year's celebrations once again took place in person. 

The event, which is held every year in Cornwall on March 5, is the national day of Cornwall, a tradition inspired by the legend of St Piran.

St Piran was the patron saint of tin and the holiday began as a celebration observed only by tin miners.

Legend tells of Piran’s arrival in Cornwall from Ireland during the 5th century.

After a disagreement with King Aengus of Munster, Piran was tied to a millstone and thrown off the Irish cliffs into a stormy sea.

The sea became calm and the millstone miraculously floated and brought him to Cornwall, where he washed up on Perranporth beach.

He spoke only Irish and the locals spoke only Cornish but he still gathered disciples. A badger, a fox and a boar were his first disciples, according to legend.

Last year in Falmouth, an all-day event was held at the Princess Pavilion, with a parade leaving St Mary Gardens and heading down towards Gyllyngdune Gardens.

Local residents also travelled to an ancient oratory in Penhale Sands, near Newquay, in order to celebrate the occasion.

Penhale Sands is believed to be the original landing site of Saint Piran.

Dating back to the 6th century, St Piran's Oratory is also thought to be one of the oldest Christian sites in Britain.

The remains were discovered in the late 18th century, and in 2014 the covering sand was removed to reveal a building more than a thousand years old, in a reasonable state of preservation.