sure it is suitable for the village for the upcoming year. Once they have visited all the pubs and inns, they are then brought down the beach where they "meet the tide". This marks the opening of the festival and traditionally was meant for the village drunk or local idiot where they would throw them in the harbour in an attempt to sober them up. Past Lord Mayors of Polperro Here is a current list of all the previous Lord Mayors of Polperro since its conception in 1996: 1996 - Ashley Courts 1997 - John Holden 1998 - Brenda Thomas 1999 - Joe Card 2000 - Chris Pannewitz 2001 - Terry Bicknell 2002 - Gilly Davis 2003 - Martin "Beaver" Thomas 2004 - Alun "Pendragon" Thomas 2005 - Ted Pilcher 2006 - Glenda Taper 2007 - Erica Gregory 2008 - John "Grandad" Marshall 2009 - Alan "Coach" Morris 2010 - Robert Chisman 2011 - Tony White 2012 - Sam Baker 2013 - Nathan "Small" Toms 2014 - Franco Miceli 2015 - Abbi Rendell 2016 - Brian & Rita Morgan 2017 - Gina Farrell 2018 - James Overton 2019 - Mike Jelly 2022 - Phil Thomas Note: There was no festival held between 2020 & 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead Mike Jelly held onto the Lord Mayor title until handing over to Phil Thomas in 2022. Firsts in Lord Mayors Ashley Courts was the first Lord Mayor of Polperro and first male Lord Mayor. Brenda Thomas was the first female Lord Mayor. Martin "Beaver" Thomas was the second member of the same family to be Lord Mayor (Thomas '98). Brian & Rita Morgan were the first duo to be Lord Mayor together. Mike Jelly was the first Lord Mayor to hold onto the title for more than a year. Phil Thomas was the third member of the same family to be Lord Mayor (Thomas '98 & '03). Lord Mayors money, portrait and Lord Mayors Ball In addition to having a robe and hat made for the Lord Mayor, ceremonial money is made with their face on. This money is strictly ceremonial and has no real value within the village anymore. They are also presented with a portrait painted by a local artist which is displayed the following year of their reign as Lord Mayor, each Lord Mayor reigns only for one year (with the exception of Mike Jelly due