Okehampton music charity Wren Music completed this year’s round of wassailing with a final event at Okehampton Community Garden last weekend (January 18).

Wren Music musicians spent the weekend surrounding the old Twelfth Night (January 17), touring Devon to put on four wassailing events across the county at Exeter, Brixham, Landkey near Barnstaple and Okehampton.

Dozens showed up at the community garden on Sunday evening to enjoy singing, cider and hot soup while continuing the ancient midwinter tradition of wassailing, originally a ceremony held to encourage a good harvest in the coming year.

Dressed in traditional wassailing costumes, the Okehampton Street Band provided the music for the evening, while dozens of visitors joined in with the singing and wassailing rituals, including pouring cider on the roots of the apple trees and hanging toast from the branches.

Marilyn Tucker, Wren Music’s creative director and chief executive, said: “It was a calm night at Okehampton Community Garden, and it was so dark, with people’s hats and the trees lit up, it was fabulous. We wassailed three trees – I think it works because they seem to get plenty of apples each year.

“I’m so pleased to be able to do all the wassails over that weekend - that’s proper wassailing weekend because it’s old Twelfth Night.”

Wassailing is held in cider-producing areas of the country and is rooted in paganism, with people visiting orchards to bless the apple trees in the hopes of a bountiful crop come harvest time. As part of the festivities, wassailers sing and drink to the health of the apple trees and make as much noise as possible to frighten away evil spirits. The word wassail comes from the Old English “waes hael,” meaning “good health.”