The Whitchurch Wassail
Whitchurch will host a traditional wassail on January 29th, 2022, at the QEII Daniel Park Community Orchard (next to the Primary School). Organised by Whitchurch Folk Club, this is the first in a series of rural traditions we hope to re-introduce to the town over the coming months and years.
What is a wassail?
A wassail is a community gathering, usually in an orchard, intended to awaken the trees from their winter slumber and frighten the orchard demons away. In order to do this, we gather beneath the trees and make as much noise as we can. Other wassails include shotgun fire, but we’re starting out small! No shotguns will be present, but we encourage you to dress up as tree spirits, paint your faces, and bring pots, pans, and instruments – whatever you’ve got to make a ruckus. Here’s a link for more information on wassailing.
These days, a wassail is seen as a great chance to come together as a community in the cold months of winter, enjoy a bit of outdoor, socially-distanced camaraderie, and pay your respects to the green spaces around us. It’s a good opportunity to leave your computer screens, forget about work, and engage with a pastime that our ancestors regularly enjoyed, and that our descendants may continue to enjoy in the future.
The ceremony starts with an old incantation, the dousing of the tree roots in apple juice and cider, and an offering of juice-soaked toast to the trees. Children are encouraged to step forward as our Wassail Kings & Queens, to help us give the trees their breakfast.
How do we wassail?
There will be a performance from the Eagle Hook Morris Men to kick things off around 1pm.
The ceremony will then start with an old incantation, the dousing of the tree roots in apple juice and cider, and an offering of juice-soaked toast to the trees. Children are encouraged to step forward as our Wassail Kings & Queens, to help us give the trees their breakfast.
And because this is a traditional wassail, we will have traditional music from the Andover Museum Loft Singers, and traditional singer, Jackie Oates, will come and help us lead the wassail and learn an old wassailing song.
Will there be food and drink?
While many traditional wassails will include food and drink, we are just finding our feet. Depending on how things go, we’ll try to introduce these elements next year. However, we encourage you to bring your own mugs and your own flasks of warm apple juice. (Please remember to take home your litter with you following the wassail.)
What happens after the wassail?
After the wassail, we will hold a tradfolk session at Whitchurch Parish Hall. We expect this to start around 2:30pm, and the music will be led by John Spiers, Jackie Oates and Paul Sartin, three of England’s most revered traditional musicians.
Anyone is welcome to come and join in, or to simply sit and watch. However, we are going to put a limit on attendees to around 40 people, for safety reasons, so get there as soon as you can. First come, first served. Please bring your own drinks, as we will not be able to run a bar.
Please do not attend the wassail or the session if you’re suffering from symptoms of COVID.
Is this wassail family-friendly?
Absolutely! As we mentioned above, we encourage everyone (kids and adults alike) to dress up and take part. If you’d like to see how other people dress up for wassails, take a look at this page of wassailing pictures. Kids are also encouraged to be our Wassailing Kings and Queens, helping us to feed the hungry trees with toast and juice. If your kids would like to do that, turn up at 1pm, look for the Green Man and let him know.
Any useful links?
Here’s a link to a Google Map showing you where the community orchard is.
And here’s a map to the Parish Hall for the session.
For further details on either event, contact Whitchurch Folk Club via our Facebook Page, our Twitter Page, our Instagram Page, or via jonwilksmusic@gmail.com.
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