INTERNATIONAL gatherings in the Forest of Dean area don’t often reach the scale of that which convened at the Asha Centre in Flaxley, when around 70 people from more than 17 countries came together for a Wassail ceremony.

The event, which took place last Sunday, brought together a large international contingent, as part of a specialist arts programme run by the centre.

Adrian Locher, Asha Centre director told the Review: “International participants on a course on community development through the arts at the Asha Centre, took part in a Wassailing ceremony enacted by members of the Forest of Dean Pagan and Wican Society.

“Led by Tim Oakes, it involved singing to an apple tree, pouring cider around its trunk and screaming at it to frighten the bad spirits away and shooting arrows through the branches – all, we were told, to encourage the tree to produce a good harvest of apples to make good cider!

“Participants were from Turkey, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Poland, Slovakia, Italy, Greece, Slovenia, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, France, Spain, Ireland and the UK. They were joined by locals and those from further afield, including Weston, Wiltshire and Stroud.

“It was a wonderful way to introduce young people from so many different countries to an old English tradition, and the Pagan Society made it an experience they will never forget, the stuff of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, but with real-life wizards and witches!”