Best places to take part in a Somerset Wassail 2025
It’s January, which means wassail is round the corner! Love a wassail? Never heard of a wassail? Want to get involved this year, but not sure where the best wassails in Somerset are? I’ve got the lowdown on the best places to take part in a Somerset wassail in 2025. Hail Apple Tree! Hail good health! Wassail! Wassail!
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Wassailing Somerset 2025
What is a wassail?
Wassailing dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, traditionally taking place on Twelfth Night (originally the 17 January, before the introduction of the Gregorian Calendar in 1752). The centuries-old ritual has Pagan roots and is intended to awaken the apple trees from their winter slumber. This involves blessing the orchards, reciting incantations, dancing, singing traditional songs and clattering pots and pans to scare away evil spirits and secure a bountiful apple harvest come autumn.
Wassail gets its name from an Old English term meaning ‘be well’, which was shouted like a toast at festivities in the darkest days of January while drinking hot spiced alcohol and cider.
Traditions vary slightly from place to place but usually, the wassail starts at dusk and is sometimes led by a Wassail King or Queen. Branches of the trees may be hit to frighten away evil spirits, cider is often poured on the roots of the oldest tree and pieces of toast, cake or bread are put into the branches to feed the good spirits or entice robins – believed to be the ‘guardians of the orchard’.
Afterwards, the trees of the orchard are serenaded with songs, Morris dancing and tasting the wassail drink. So if you thought a good crop of apples was all about the soil type and climate, now you know that’s not the case! If you’d like to experience this ancient tradition, there are of course loads of places to go wassailing in Somerset – this is cider country after all!
Where to take part in a Wassail Somerset 2025
If you’re looking for where to go wassailing in Somerset, here are the events taking place around the county:
North Somerset wassailing events 2025
Wassailing 2025, The Railway Inn – Thatchers Cider, Station Road, Sandford
- When is wassail? 15 January 2025, 6.30pm
- How much? £28 per person
Boost the chances of a plentiful apple harvest at Thatchers wassail 2025 with a two-course meal at this cider maker’s traditional country pub, The Railway Inn. Tasty grub is followed by sea shanty singing, mulled cider and Morris dancing. More info and tickets.
Clevedon Community Orchard Wassail 2025
- When? 11 January 2.30-4pm
- How much? Free
Bring a pan and something to bash to Clevedon Community Orchard, next to Baytree School in Brookfield Walk. Just follow the path to the right of the school. There will be cider, mulled cider and apple cake. Bring a pan!
Tyntesfield Wassail, Wraxall
- When? 26 January 2025, 1.30pm-3pm
- How much? This is a free event, no booking is required. Normal National Trust admission applies.
This coming January, Tyntesfield will be hosting its annual Wassail. Bring your noisiest pots and pans to bang to scare away those evil spirits, and join in the merriment blessing the apple trees for a fruitful harvest in the autumn. Click here for more information on this wassail at Tynstesfield.
Blagdon Village Club Wassail
- When? TBC
A traditional ceremony starting at Blagdon Village Club for the picking of the Apple tree and then processing to Eldred’s Orchard to bless the trees for the coming year
Mendip wassail dates
Wassail events 2025 at Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury
- When? 11 January 2025, 7.30-10pm (doors open 6.45pm)
- How much? Adult £12, Child (5+) £8, under 5s do not need a ticket
Wrap up warm and join in with music and merriment at one of Somerset’s longest-running Wassails at Somerset Rural Life Museum. The event will take place in the museum’s 14th century Abbey Barn and around the oldest apple tree in the orchard. Les Davies MBE, will join us as Master of Ceremonies for the evening; crowning the Wassail King or Queen and blessing the cider trees. Local band Rapscallion will provide musical entertainment.
Tickets include a seasonal drink on arrival and a piece of apple cake. Other drinks will be available to purchase along with hotdogs and burgers (cash only). More info on Somerset Rural Life Museum Wassail Glastonbury.
Shoemakers Museum Orchard at The Grange, Clarks Village, Street
- When? 19 January 2025, 2-4.30pm
- How much? Free
This traditional Wassail at the Shoemakers Museum Orchard will be led by ceremony master extraordinaire, local legend, Les Davies MBE. As well as stories from Somerset celebrating the apple, there will be a musical performance by local troupe, the Langport Mummers. Make and wear your own head dress for your chance to win a special prize! Refreshments will be available, including apple juice and cider.
Mid-Somerset Show, Mid Somerset Showground, Shepton Mallet, BA4 4GF
- When? 15 January 2025, 6.30pm
- How much? £15, available from the show office on 01749 938044
As darkness falls, a Wassail Queen will be chosen from the assembled crowd and a bonfire lit to ward off the evil spirits. Tickets include hot food and entertainment in the Yeoman building. More info here.
Weylands Wassail 2025
- When? 8 February, 1.30-3.30pm
- How much? £10, including drink and nibbles. 50% of the ticket prices will be donated to the Pitcombe Rock Falconry.
In collaboration with Frome Town Council and Dowding’s Cider, The Weylands Wassail returns for its third year in the orchard behind Weylands/Whatcombe Road. Enjoy live music from Frome Street Bandits, craft activities, mulled cider, and a joyful wassail ceremony led by Annabelle Macfadyen. This free event celebrates an ancient tradition of blessing apple trees for a good harvest while bringing the community together. Bring pots, pans, and cheer for a midwinter celebration! Click here for more wassail info.
Sedgemoor wassailing festivals
Rich’s Cider Wassail 2025 Somerset
- When? 18 January 2025, 7.30pm-midnight
- How much? £15, children under 12 free
Dance, sing and drink the night away at Rich’s traditional annual charity Wassail ceremony in Watchfield (raising funds for Cancer Research UK. Tuck into delicious hot food from the Cider Press Restaurant and frolic along with Scrumpy and Western band, The Skimmity Hitchers.
West Croft Farm, Brent Knoll Wassail
- When? 18 January 2025, 6.15pm-8.30pm
- How much? £5 per person, Children under 14 are free. Pre-purchase tickets from Brent Knoll Primary School via email or call 01278 760546.
Wake the good spirits with cider and songs, scare evil spirits with shotguns and gongs! Brent Knoll’s Westcroft Cider Farm hosts its annual wassailing ceremony is a family-friendly event featuring a torch-lit procession, orchard ceremony, children’s games, live entertainment from Tim Dean, and mini-mummers. Tickets include a burger and drink, with cider and soft drinks available. Click here for more info.
South Somerset wassail 2025
Wassail Night, Bere Cider Company, Langport
- When? 18 January 2025, 6-11pm
- How much? Free entry, no tickets required
BBQ from 5pm, Morris Dancing at 6pm, wassail at 6.30pm and live music from The Somerset Paddies at Bere Cider Company at 7pm! Pop along for a glass of mulled cider or hot choccie. Snacks and Cake also available. More info here.
Community Orchard, Chard Museum and Heritage Centre
- When? 19 January 2025, doors open 5.30pm
Chard Museum and Chard Town Council present this wassail at the Community Orchard (accessed via Chard Museum). Featuring Chard’s Town Crier, guest musicians and morris dancing from Blackdown Morris. Enjoy mulled cider and apple cake on the patio. More info.
Wassail at Tricky Cider, Netherham Farm, Low Ham
- When? 8 February 2025, 2-7pm
- How much? Free entry
Featuring the Langport Mummers performing ‘St George and the Bold Slasher’ at 5pm. Games and food, Tricky Cider’s wassail is family-friendly. More info.
Hornblotton Wassail 2025, Orchard Park Farm, BA4 6SF
- When? 18 January 2025, 5pm
- How much? Tickets £15 adults, £2.50 children In aid of Hornblotton Village Hall, Church, and funding a new Defibrillator
Make sure the village apple trees get a hale and hearty start at Neil and Emma Macdonald’s barn in Hornblotton. This year’s event kicks off in style with singing from a 60-person Wassail choir, followed by hot food, drinks and music from the Four Foot Four. Wrap up warm and bring pots and pans to bang! More info.
Buttercross Community Orchard Wassail, St Georges Street, Dunster
- When? 17 January 2025, 7.30pm
Help preserve the traditional Dunster Wassailing ceremony with drum-banging, music, song and stories followed by the firing of the Wassail guns, finishing off the procession in The Forester’s Arms for more ditties and storytelling. Cake and mulled cider provided.
Jubilee Wood Wassail, Hinton St. George, TA17 8SE
- When? 18 January 2025, 5.15pm-12am
Head to Jubilee Wood Wassail for free spicy mulled cider and apple juice, followed by a procession along a candlelit path, led by the Lord of Misrule and Lyme Morris, to the centre of the wood and the guardian apple tree for rousing wassail songs.
Wonderful Wassail & Countryside Crafts day, Yeovil Country Park
- When? 20 February 2025, activities from 1.30pm-4.50pm. Wassail ceremony from 5pm.
- Where? Summerhouse Hill Community Orchard, Yeo Leisure Park, BA20 1NP (near Hollywood Bowl)
Get ready to celebrate, Saxon style! Drop-in wassail activities will be taking place at Yeovil Country Park from 1.30pm-4.50pm. No need to book, just turn up on the day. Countryside crafts, necklace making, beating drums, a children’s trail, traditional music and dance, pooh sticks, face painting, leaf crown-making hot food from West Scout Group and drink, marshmallow-tasting fires, and ghost-scaring ceremonies.
The wassail ceremony takes place from 5pm onwards. Bring pots, pans, or tambourines! More info on their Facebook page.
Wassail The Newt, near Bruton
- When? TBC
- How much?
The Newt celebrate their wassail slightly later, in March. Sign up for a Somerset Wassail Prune, kicking off with an introduction by Andy ‘Apples’ Lewis, Specialist Fruit Grower, who will teach the art of pruning apple trees. Lunch is served in the Farmyard Kitchen, followed by an exclusive cyder tasting in the cellar with the King of Wassail.
Explosive celebration is the order of the evening with hearty Somerset fare, shooing-out of evil spirits, bringing in the benign spirits, toasting good health, and breaking bread to cannon-fire and live music, all washed down with lashings of cyder.
Wassail Taunton Deane
The Sheppy’s Cider Wassail, Bradford-on-Tone, Taunton
- When? 31 January 2025, 5.30pm-10pm
- How much? £16.50
Toast the apple harvest for the year ahead with noise, fire, guns, hot cider and lots of people to sing the ancient chant at Sheppy’s Wassail 2025. As well as all the evil spirit-dispelling, there will be winter-warming food, a cider bar, open fires, Morris dancing and folk music. More info and tickets.
North Curry Wassail
- When? TBC
Wassail trees and earth at White Street, North Curry. Wassailers will gather at White Street Pavilion and then process to the orchard at the back of the community woodland for dancing, toasting trees, singing songs and making wishes for the New Year. BYO warm drink and food, bring things to bash and dress up if you fancy it!
There will also be a band and singing fire bowls.
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