The old anarchic tradition of the Mock Mayor is to be revived in Penryn this weekend for the first time in generations as part of the town's 800th anniversary celebrations.

The custom, also known as the Mayor of Mylor, traditionally saw the town's journeyman tailors travelling to Mylor parish, where they chose the wittiest amongst them to take up the title for the day before being borne back to the borough in a chair upon the shoulders of four strong men.

He was preceded by torch-bearers and two town-sergeants, in gowns and cocked hats, with cabbages instead of maces, and surrounded by a guard armed with staves, and made a speech in front of the town hall before heading to the inns to test the town's ale.

The modern ceremony will see the mock mayor elected from the nutters of the borough by the town mob at the Stuart Stephens Memorial Hall at 11.30am on Saturday.

There will be a procession at 12pm, and the crowd will meet the real mayor at the Town Hall at 12.30pm, ahead of entertainment between 1.30pm and 2.30pm.

From 3.30pm there will be mock mayoral proclamations in the pubs of the town, along with testing of the ales using a special wooden stool and a pair of leather trousers.

The main road through Penryn from West Street to Quay Hill will be closed to traffic during the event, from 10am until 11pm for the event.