A sea pilgrimage recreating a passage from the Bible will be held in Birżebbuġa on Friday, August 5, in honour of St Peter in Chains, who was a fisherman himself.

The event was first held by the parish church in 1974 to welcome the titular statue after gilding works were carried out. Five years later, it was introduced as a yearly celebration by then parish priest Fr Karm Frendo.

Organised by the St Peter Philharmonic Society, Birżebbuġa Band Club AD 1990, the pilgrimage usually sees the statue of the saint heaved on to a fishing boat, which then crosses the waters from St George’s Bay in Birżebbuġa to Pretty Bay.

However, as this year marks the statue’s 25th anniversary, it will take the original route.

The statue will leave from Marsaxlokk as it did the first time it was brought over to Birżebbuġa in 1991.

Furthermore, the society is taking the opportunity to raise funds through this event, with participants being asked to give a donation to the Malta Community Chest Fund.

St Peter’s statue will leave the society’s premises en route to Marsaxlokk at 6pm accompanied by a carcade.

At 7.15pm the statue will leave Marsaxlokk Harbour accompanied by numerous fishermen and sailors from Marsaxlokk and Birżebbuġa.

The marine cortège will stop at Pretty Bay at around 8pm. There, the Society’s president Alexander Caruana will receive President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, to hand her the collected donations.

Anyone wishing to join the pilgrimage with their boat is welcome to join up in Birżebbuġa or Marsaxlokk.

For more information, call 7970 4903.