WHAT'S HAPPENING IN 2022?

THE DATES ARE FRIDAY 3rd JUNE and SATURDAY 4th AND YES THAT IS THE PLATINUM JUBILEE WEEKEND!

Do come and join us for the seventh annual Ossett Beercart Festival, a unique event organised by Wakefield Morris Dancers that will take place this year on the Queen's Jubilee weekend. The festival will run from 7pm Friday 3rd June to 11 pm Saturday 4th June in Ossett town centre and with plenty of music, dance and fun activities, there will be entertainment for all the family.

Friday 3rd June 7 pm to 11 pm Ossett Town Hall - the start of our two-day beer festival where there will be a varied selection of ales, ciders, Prosecco, craft beers and craft lager. This evening session will include the judging of our 'Champion Beer of the Festival' competition.

Saturday 4th June 10.30 am Morris dancers from over 10 different teams from various parts of the country will work together to pull the ceremonial Beercart from Ossett War Memorial Community Centre on Prospect Street around the town centre to the Town Hall where members of Wakefield Morris will officially open the second day of the beer festival at 11 am by carrying the festival barrel into the hall. A particular mention here for Boggarts Breakfast and Sallyport Sword who have been with us for every festival. For a map of the Beercart procession route, please see the back page of this programme.

10 am to late afternoon There will be a market in the Town Centre including craft and food stalls, fairground rides and face painting.

11 am to 4 pm Morris dancers will perform around the Town Centre and Precinct.

11 am - 11 pm The beer festival continues throughout the day in the Town Hall with a unique Rapper Sword Dance Off at 4.30 pm, the second outing for this competition after the huge success of 2019. Happy Hour starts at 7pm when we hope you will help us finish drinking the place dry.

The committee of dedicated Wakefield Morris volunteers has been working hard for many months to make the 2022 Beercart a success. Community events such as this don't happen by accident, but by the clear dedication of many people who give their varied skills and knowledge as well as many hours of their own time free of charge. Our thanks also go to Bev Riley of BOB (Building Ossett Better) and David Jones from The Bierhuis who help us ensure Ossett is ready for our event. We could not do this without them.

As in previous years, we will be raising funds for Wakefield Hospice which continues to provide an invaluable service for some of the most sick and needy people from around the Wakefield area. Their vital work must continue and we have to take every opportunity to support them. We hope to make this our most successful event yet after having had to cancel the last two years because of the Covid pandemic. There will be Hospice volunteers with collection buckets around the town all day on Saturday. Please give generously and help us support this very worthy organisation.

We hope you all enjoy the weekend and we'll look forward to you joining us next year on Friday 2nd to Saturday 3rd June 2023.

For some information of the history of processions etc in the NW tradition follow this link.