About the event

Join us as we wake up the apple trees in our orchard! Our Wassail will be hosted by local Druids who will toast the trees to ensure a good harvest. Wrap up warm, sing, dance and enjoy this traditional event for the whole family!

Wassailing is a traditional ceremony that involves singing and drinking to the health of trees on the Twelfth Night. The purpose of wassailing is to awaken the cider apple trees and to scare away evil spirits to ensure a good harvest of fruit in the Autumn.

The ceremonies of each wassail varied from village to village but they generally all have the same core elements. A wassail King and Queen lead the song or a processional tune to be played/sung from one orchard to the next; the wassail Queen is then lifted into the boughs of the tree where she places toast soaked in wassail from the clayen cup as a gift to the tree spirits (and to show the fruits created the previous year). In some counties, the youngest boy or "Tom Tit" will stand in for the Queen and hang the cider-soaked toast in the tree. Then an incantation is usually recited.

Our Wassail will be hosted by local Druids who will be toasting the trees to ensure a good harvest, so wrap up warm, bring along your instruments and  toast (yes toasted bread) have a sing along or just spectate this annual event. Our cafe will be open for you to purchase drinks and snacks.

Visitors will firstly be entertained by the Green Man Morris, and Stafford Morris dancers, also The Dove Valley Mummers. Revellers will then be invited to make their way to the orchard where local druids will lead the ceremony of dancing and singing around the trees.. Everyone is encouraged to bring along lanterns, toast, drums and bells, or any instrument that can make a noise to wake up the trees. This year will also feature a play performed by the Dove Valley Mummers.

The event is free (donations are welcome) and begins at 1.30pm with a welcome and Morris dancing. At 3pm visitors will walk to the orchard for the blessing ceremony and at 3.30pm the Wassailing of the trees, hanging toast and waking the trees will happen, finishing off around 4pm

No booking required.  

Other information

Staffordshire Wildlife Trust are committed to Safeguarding children and young people - please click this link to see our safeguarding policy' https://www.staffs-wildlife.org.uk/our-policies

Like our Facebook page for more activities https://www.facebook.com/swtactivities