Final preparations are in hand for the Midsomer Norton Wassail this Saturday, 19th January, meeting at 11.30 a.m. for a 12 noon start at the Hollies, in the low building next to the left hand side of the old Hollies House in the High Street.

If you’ve never been to a Wassailing before, proceedings will commence with a short introduction to this centuries-old tradition.

Then, the 2019 Midsomer Norton Wassail King and Queen will be crowned by the Town Mayor, and this year nominations for the Wassail Royalty are being opened up to people of all ages.

The Wassail will then be led by musicians to apple trees planted in memory of Town notables, David Strawbridge, David Fisher, Ted Hallam and Norman Voake.

At each location, the Wassailers will join in the traditional ceremony, using the town’s Wassail Cups to ‘wake up’ the apple trees.

The Cam Valley Morris Men will be attending this year, and bringing to the event a really important traditional Wassail element which was missing last year.

Once the trees have been visited, all that is left is to return to the Hollies and tuck into scrumptious apple cake!

“As we now look towards Spring and nature awakening, it’s great the community can come together again for the Wassailing tradition.

“A special thanks must go to the volunteers who have worked so hard to make this possible,” said Paul Myers, Mayor of Midsomer Norton.

The event is being run by the Midsomer Norton Society and is open to everyone.

There is no charge, but there will be a collection of donations to help cover the costs.