A HEREFORDSHIRE cider company will be hosting its annual wassail this weekend, all in the name of cider.

Weston Cider, one of Herefordshire’s biggest names in cider, will be holding the event at Westons Cider Mill.

Wassailing is the ancient tradition of blessing trees in the hope of promoting a good harvest for the next cider and perry season and warding off bad spirits from the orchard.

This Anglo-Saxon custom is said to date back many centuries and is still a lively and treasured tradition across cider and perry-making counties today.

RELATED NEWS:

The Silurian Morris will be co-hosting Westons wassail on Saturday, January 7, with all proceeds going to St Michaels Hospice.

It will run from 6pm for 7pm, with torches lit at 7.30pm.

The Silurians will introduce you to some of the elements unique to wassailing such as the Burning of the Bush and the Herefordshire Apostle fires.

The evening begins with dancing outside the cider mill before the torchlit procession leads the way down the lane to the orchard where the Apostle Fires have been prepared.

Once everyone has arrived at the central apple tree, wassail songs are sung, the fires are lit, the offering made to the tree followed by more singing and dancing.

OTHER NEWS:

This year, for the first time, the Westons Wassail is ticketed – buy your tickets here.

“Share in a ceremony bursting with fire, poetry, weird gifts, ancient songs and lots of laughs,” said wassail butler Ian Craigan.

The company, based in Much Marcle, near Ledbury, said the money will enhance its fruit pressing capacity, while using the latest technology to reduce overall energy consumption, as part of its mission to reduce its carbon footprint.

The significant investment will see two state-of-the-art cider presses installed at the Much Marcle site, enabling the cider maker to keep pace with demand following a record year in which Westons Cider became the UK's fastest-growing cider producer.

The installation of the new presses, set to begin in May, will enable Westons Cider to press around 30 per cent more fruit in the coming harvest when compared to the 2022 season.