Next Performance: Sat 29th August 2020 3 performances over the Bank Holiday weekend. The 2010 Axbridge Pageant Festival – a huge historical re-enactment celebrating 2,000 years of this Somerset town’s rich past was a SELL OUT! This spectacular historical re-enactment in the small Mendip town of Axbridge, near Cheddar. Involves a cast of more than 400 local people, this once-in-a decade event brings two thousand years of history to life in a unique open-air costumed drama. From the Saxon’s to the present day, the Pageant charts the centuries, celebrations, confrontations and controversial characters which have shaped Axbridge’s rich past. The two hour long performances, staged in the town’s medieval square, span vibrant scenes including King John’s hunting party, the Monmouth Rebellion, the Elizabethan Charter, the Coming of the Railway and the impact of the World Wars. ‘Hanging’ Judge Jeffries deals with the Battle of Sedgemoor’s rebel army, Methodist reformer Hannah More takes the wicked and drunken ways of townsfolk to task and Glastonbury monk St. Dunstan clashes with Anglo-Saxon Royalty. And there are depictions of bygone traditions like the bustling Lady Day Fairs and barbaric bull-baiting events. First performed in 1967 to celebrate the opening of a by-pass along the former Strawberry Line rail track, the Pageant was such a success it has been held every ten years.  It is now an institution & become part of Axbridge's history itself. In 2017 we'll celebrate our 50th anniversary, but the next pageant will be in 2020. See our short video, historical media on the cuttings & images & to see what's happening, since our most successful pageant ever, our NEWS page