A TRADITIONAL Welsh event will be held in Caerleon for the first time in at least 40 years on Saturday.

Mari Lwyd celebrations will be held at two pubs and have been organised by the Caerleon Festival.

The Welsh midwinter tradition translates into Grey Mary or Grey Mare in English.

Participants accompany a person disguised as a horse from house to house and sing at doors in an attempt to be let in and bring luck.

The Caerleon Festival’s Greville Hunt said: “The Mari Lwyd the horse’s skull comes and it bangs on your door. We won’t be banging on your door – but we will banging on the door of two of the pubs. It would be nice to restart this tradition.”

The pubs involved are The Bell Inn and the Hanbury Arms.

The Hanbury’s Arms landlord, Simon Campbell, said: “I am supporting local causes. Caerleon is a lovely village and it is great to get local people involved.”

Yesterday members of the festival’s committee visited the Star Inn in Llansoy, where the Mari Lwyd has been celebrated for a number of years to see how their processions go, Mr Hunt said.

For more information on Saturday’s event, visit caerleon-arts.org.

Mari Lwyd celebrations will also be held in Chepstow on January 17.

They will start at the Three Tuns at 3pm and progress to the Afon Gwy at 5.30pm. The main event will start at 6.30pm, meeting on the Wye Bridge.

The Chepstow Wassail and Mari Lwyd brings together the Welsh winter tradition of the Mari Lwyd and the mainly English custom of wassailing, in a meeting on the town’s historic Wye Bridge.

Wassailing is a tradition of blessing apple trees and asking for a good harvest, involving cider and food offerings, and the warding off of evil spirits.

Each custom involves singing and dancing, and the Chepstow event is a celebration of both, befitting the town’s border location.

There will be a ceilidh at The Drill Hall at 8pm with Calennig Ceilidh band. Tickets are £5 which are available on the door.

The event is hosted by Chepstow-based border Morris dancing group The Widders and supported by Monmouthshire County Council, Chepstow Town Council, Chepstow Acoustic Music Club, Glosfolk and the people of Chepstow.

For details, visit chepstowwassailmari.co.uk