Wilkins Cider Farm Wassail 2016

The tradition of wassailing dates are unknown as it’s that old. Most cider farms wassail on “Old Twelvey Night” January the 17th but as close to a Saturday as possible to attract people to attend.

Festival Portable Toilet Hire Somerset

Wassail Cider Festival toilet hire 2016 somerset UK portable toilets hot showers

 

As this annual festival is held in a field then of course portable toilet hire is essential due to the gallons of cider consumed!

If you have a festival in a field then give us a call on 01278 794800 so we can provide an accurate cost quaotation for delivery, setup maintenance and removal.

Alternatively, you can send a message via our Contact Form.

What is a Wassail?

The aim of it all is to awake the cider apple trees and to scare away evil spirits, so that there is a great harvest of fruit.

Wassail King and Queen

A wassail King and Queen lead songs and chants moving through one orchard to the next. The Queen will then be lifted into the tree ( not literally) and place toast soaked in cider in the branches and pour cider on the roots as a gift to the tree spirits.
They then sing “ Here’s to thee, old apple tree, that blooms well, bears well. Hats full, caps full, Three bushel bags full, An, all under one tree, Hurrah, Hurrah!
The crowd will the sing, chant make louds of noise, drums banging, then a guns man fires into the air through the branches to make sure the work is done. This is repeated in each orchard.

Apple Tree Man in Somerset

In Somerset particularly there is the tale of the “Apple Tree Man” the spirit of the oldest apple tree in the orchard, with whom the fertility of the orchard resides. In the tale a man offers his last mug of cider to the trees in his orchard and is rewarded by the Apple Tree man with the location of buried treasure.
Then it’s just a huge party with lots of food, cider and music.