We will be kicking of the year’s events in style by cooking something very exciting up for the February half term. Give our Facebook page a like and follow to be the first to receive exciting news updates about this event.
We also have some EGGciting plans afoot for Easter which we will reveal details of very soon.
Below are just some of the events that we already have booked in for 2023 and we will be organising many more alongside our Saturday Roman Builds that happen weekly.
1st May 2023
Burning of the Wicker Man
Lets welcome in the Summer with the burning of the Wicker Man, and lots of fun.
Beltane is the Gaelic May Day festival. Commonly observed on the first of May, the festival falls midway between the spring equinox and summer solstice in the northern hemisphere. The festival name is synonymous with the month marking the start of summer in Ireland, May being Mí na Bealtaine. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man.
Folowing a tradition that dates back to the time of the druids we will burn a Wicker Man to welcome in the summer.
27th May - 4th June 2023
Auxilia
Our new flagship Roman Fort celebration of Cultural Diversity - a whole 9 days of immersive living history, demos and talks.
The Auxilia were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 30 BC. By the 2nd century, the Auxilia contained the same number of infantry as the legions and, in addition, provided almost all of the Roman army's cavalry (especially light cavalry and archers) and more specialised troops. The auxilia thus represented three-fifths of Rome's regular land forces at that time. Like their legionary counterparts, auxiliary recruits were mostly volunteers, not conscripts.
20th July onwards
Summer Holidays
We will be hosting lots of new art and exploration activities to keep the young people busy over the summer holidays. Check our events page for more details that will be released nearer the time.
31st October
October Fest
The year is turning towards the dark, its time to burn the Wicker Man again!
A wicker man was purportedly a large wicker statue in which the druids (priests of Celtic paganism) sacrificed humans and animals by burning. The main evidence for this practice is a sentence by Roman general Julius Caesar in his Commentary on the Gallic War (1st century BC), which modern scholarship has linked to an earlier Greek writer, Poseidonius.
Christmas
Christmas in the Past
Find out how our ancestors celebrated their Winter Festivals and Christmas, and join in.
We hope to see you at some (or all!) of our events the year and as always our volunteers will give a warm welcome to all guests and answer any questions you may have about Roman life.