Hackney Wassail established 2011

Wassailing for fun, friendship, fresh air and song - all welcome

2026 Wassail – Sunday January 11th

You can find all the info in the 2026 tab above. Susbcribe to our email list or join https://www.facebook.com/groups/HackneyWassail/ to stay updated

2025 Wassail

We had an almost overwhelming, but very welcome huge participation, it was lovely to welcome old and new wassailers. Your generosity tripled our donations, and North London Action for the Homeless received £500 for their work.

A reminder of past wassails

Here's a slideshow (Photographs © David Hoffman) compiled with pictures from past years, with an audio recording made under the horseshoe railway bridge on the canal towpath.
You can see David's complete gallery of wassailing photographs here

Wassailing in Hackney. A pre-Christian traditional ceremony held on the old 12th night of 17 January and stemming from an Anglo-Saxon pagan ritual visiting the apple trees and leaving them libations of cider and cider soaked toast to encourage their fertility next year.

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Calling all Hackney based Wassailing Wannabes!

If you’re a little unacquainted with the concept of Wassailing, don’t worry, it’s not a weird insult, and we’re not asking you to join a cult.

Wassailing refers to an old school tradition, somewhere between a ramble and a harvest ritual. Wassail or ‘was hael’ means ‘be well’. In times past, people sang and drank to the health of their fruit trees to ensure a good harvest, usually on the old 12th night.

Wassailers walked from one orchard to the next, circling the ‘king’ tree, singing traditional wassail songs. Toast soaked in cider from a special wassail cup was put in the tree’s branches. This gift represents the fruit the tree bore the previous year, given to the spirits of the tree in the form of robins.

How can you join the Hackney Wassail?

Whether you’re a seasoned pro or a Wassailing-virgin, the more the merrier for this fun Sunday activity.

As you may have guessed, orchards are pretty sparse in Hackney, so you’ll be making do with the community orchards in our urban parks! The Hackney Wassail doesn’t include a traditional bonfire, but there will be plenty of fun, jolliness and singing to keep you warm!

Come for the whole wassail, or join at one of the orchards.

 

You can see location of the orchards here