A TRADITIONAL belated New Year event will take place in Chepstow this month.

The Chepstow Wassail and Mari Lwyd will bring together ancient customs from England and Wales which are celebrated on or around New Year together.

The event will be held by the Widders Border Morris and will include the English tradition of wassailing, which includes blessing apple trees and asking for good harvest for the year.

It will also involve the Welsh tradition Mari Lwyd, which involves a decorated horse skull being carried from house to house by performers who attempt to gain entry for food and drink through rhyme, riddles and songs.

Once the Mari are let in, they will then bless the inhabitants of the house before moving on to the next one.

Hundreds are expected to attend the event on Saturday, January 21, which will kick-off at the Three Tuns Inn at 2.30pm with Morris dancing, before moving on to Chepstow Bridge.

And once the procession moves on to Chepstow Bridge, the Wassailers will send up a large firework to explode over the river, which will signal to the Mari that the Wassail is finished, and that they are about to cross the bridge,

For more information on the programme for the afternoon and evening event, visit chepstowwassailmari.co.uk