Excitement is building for the Axbridge Pageant as the cast and crew gear up to perform their largest and most spectacular event yet over the August Bank holiday weekend.
Props are being stored, costumes assigned to the 300 or more members of the cast and tractors, vintage and classic cars are being readied.
The massive community play takes place in the town square every 10 years in front of hundreds of spectators seated in temporary grandstands.
The artistic director John Bailey says: “The whole show is coming together with rehearsals underway and things falling into place including the construction of the railway carriages for the Victorian scene. There’s a real buzz in the town as the day approaches. I can honestly say Axbridge has pageant fever.”
From the Neolithic hunters of the forests of the Mendips to the invasions of Romans, Saxons and Normans to the town’s charters, rebellion, wars and into the 20th century the pageant is a tapestry of events. Punch-ups, riots, crusades and high comedy with the fighting Reverend Gould squaring up to the Christian evangelist Hannah More there is something for everyone.
Axbridge Pageant began in 1967 and has been held every 10 years since and features a cast of 300 and charts the town’s history in 15 spectacular scenes featuring battles, riots, fights, high drama and pathos with live music, horses and livestock, plus a train and vintage cars.
Plus, the weekend has music in the evenings with Iain Ballamy and Friends, Friday, 26th; The Leylines and the Baler Twine Boys, Saturday 27th; Singing in the square, Sunday 28th; and The Stopcocks and Easy Tiger on Monday 29th.
The Axbridge Pageant is a community event and has been held regularly since 1967 when a celebration of the town’s history was held in the town square, since then it has been held in 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2010. Due to the Covid Crisis it was postponed from 2020 to this summer.
The Axbridge Pageant is set to take place at 3pm daily over the Bank Holiday Weekend, Saturday-Monday, August 27-29. 2022.
Tickets are now on sale. To buy tickets visit: https://axbridgepageant.com/tickets
The pageant is entirely funded through community fundraising events throughout the year, ticket sales, programme sales and sponsorship. If you would like to sponsor a scene visit https://axbridgepageant.com/Sponsor_Axbridge_Pageant
If you are interested in being part of the creative event either in the cast or behind the scenes, contact the producer and production manager John Kendall on 01934 732103 or 07770 998731 or email John at jk_axbridge@yahoo.co.uk. You can also donate to the pageant – especially popular for those who cannot make it to the event this year – via Just Giving via https://tinyurl.com/2p8dk7j9
