GRASS VALLEY, Calif. March 3, 2026 – On Saturday, March 7, at 9:15 the You Bet Brass will summons Grass Valley’s citizens, children and dogs to the intersection of Mill and Bank streets for the annual St. Piran’s Day celebration and pasty tossing contest.
The St. Piran’s Day motto is, “Everyone’s Cornish today!”
At 9:30 Mayor Hilary Hodge will proclaim St. Piran’s Day and master of ceremonies and town crier Paul Haas will ring the town bell and present the awards. They will arrive at the event accompanied by Pipes & Drums of the Northern Mines.
Festivities begin with flags and the singing of the American and Cornish national anthems at 9:45, a Cornish-American “naturalization” ceremony and then the tossing of pastys.
The mayors of Grass Valley and Nevada City lead off the competition, followed by the police chiefs of the two towns, other dignitaries and leaders and then citizens and children.
Come join in the fun, rain or shine, and take a turn competing for a winner’s ribbon. Bring your leased dog to help clean the streets of shattered pastys, which contain organic dog food in a liver crust, baked by Carol Kinyon.
Brass instruments are essential to Cornish culture. Since ancient times the Cornish have mined tin and copper in their native land and then traveled across the earth to tunnel into hard rock and extract minerals, especially Grass Valley’s gold.
Work underground left these miners with calloused hands and rough fingers. Miners didn’t play stringed instruments, but they could press the keys of brass ones and march should-to-shoulder in bands. In the mining era, Grass Valley’s band performed cross the state and won awards in San Francisco.
Men’s choirs expressed in singing the camaraderie the men established while working in dangerous conditions underground.
The Grass Valley Male Voice, directed by George Husaruk, will lead the singing of the anthems at St. Piran’s Day and later perform at a midday concert.
The historic Chan family, representing generations of Grass Valley merchants and medical professionals, will gather to take an oath and become naturalized Cousin Jacks and Jennies, the nickname given to Cornish folk who came to mine the American West. Anyone with a generous heart who loves pastys is eligible to join them.
St. Piran is to Cornwall what St. Patrick is to Ireland. In history, he brought Christianity to the Celtic land in the 5th century. In legend, he outwitted menacing giants and taught the Cornish to refine tin. The Cornish flag, a white cross on a back field, is called “St. Piran’s flag.”
Join the fun by coming down to Mill Street, where you may give a dog a thrill, make a child’s day and have a story afterwards to put a smile on anyone’s face.
St. Piran’s Day sponsors include the Greater Grass Valley Chamber of Commerce, GV Downtown Association, GV Male Voice Choir, GV-Bodmin Sister Cities, California Cornish Cousins; Gold Country Celtic Society and City of Grass Valley.