Winter Solstice at Newbridge

For the last few years the village of Newbridge, between Bathurst and Blayney, has held a Winter Solstice Festival, held on the Saturday closest to the winter solstice. This year was the first time we attended.  It was bigger than we expected.  Things got under way from noon, but we didn’t go out till late afternoon.  Everything was located in the main street and around the pub.

There were lots of market stalls, many more than we expected, but we didn’t buy anything.  

We arrived just in time to see some mock Viking battles.  They really looked the part in their outfits.

Their battles were quite humorous.  I loved the ribbon of blood coming from this fellow’s mortal wound.  Another time they had to old codgers’ battle….with their walking sticks.

You have to have a band playing on the back of a trailer.

People were encouraged to dress up.  This lady was the pick of them, and very happy to have her photo taken.

The highlight of the event was the bonfire, complete with a sort of wicker man.  There were arms and a sheep’s skull.

The crowd gathered as it was lit, just on dark.

After a fair bit of trouble, they had it roaring.  You could buy a small straw man with a tag attached.  The idea was you would write your troubles on the tag and throw the doll into the fire and you troubles would be gone.  No, we didn’t participate, as they were all sold out, and we don’t have any troubles that I can think of, anyway.

The sheep’s skull looked spectacular as it burned.

It was a fun night, but not very late, which was good. As the pub was really busy, we just came home for our tea.  This is yet another fun reason to get out and about in the depths of winter.  A great event.