Tonight is Franklin's night - the battle with the devil!

Franklin’s Night is a Pagan tradition, which historically involved the head cider maker having a fight with the devil! The old story goes that a late frost was the devil’s work, so if the cider maker could defeat the devil there would be no frost to wither early spring growth, plenty of apples to harvest in autumn and copious amounts of cider to enjoy!

Legends suggest that Franklin, a brewer looking to increase his beer sales by taking cider out of the equation, sold his soul to the devil to send a late frost. So, Franklin’s Night celebrations evolved with a fight with the devil at the heart of the event!

At Wye Chase Vineyard, we're on the side of the head cider maker as a late frost would be a catastrophe for our new vines.