It’s time to begin ‘waking up the apple trees’ with the 2018 Midsomer Norton Wassailing, which takes place at 11.30 a.m. this coming Saturday, 20th January, commencing with the crowning of a Wassail King and Queen in the Town Hall.

For those who are new to Wassailing, proceedings will commence in the Assembly Room at the Town Hall with a short introduction to this centuries-old tradition. Then the 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 gathering will then be led by musicians to apple trees planted last year in memory of Town notables David Strawbridge, David Fisher, Ted Hallam and Norman Voake.

When the Wassailers arrive at each location, the traditional ceremonies will be performed using the town’s Wassail Cups to ‘wake up’ the apple trees. This year, the event will also be joined by the Cam Valley Morris Men, bringing to the event a really important traditional Wassail element which was missing last year.

The Wassailing will conclude with the company returning to the Town Hall to tuck into scrumptious apple cake.

Paul Myers, Mayor of Midsomer Norton, said: “It’s great to see Wassailing becoming a regular part of the town’s calendar – bringing the community together as it does to look ahead of us at the very beginning of the year, and to anticipate the waking up of nature.”

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 costs.

For further details, please visit: www.midsomernortoncommunitytrust.co.uk