A jet of steam rises with a hiss as a red hot poker plunges into a bowl of cider. A garlanded woman spears a piece of toast with a long fork and lodges the offering among the branches of a tree. Then, amid shouts from the watching crowd, the torch-lit ceremony ends with gunfire ringing out beneath the clear night winter sky.

For most of the year, Sheppy’s farm at Bradford-on-Tone in the west of England uses state of the art machinery to tend its 22,000 apple trees and produce more than half a million gallons of cider annually.

But for one evening in January, modern farming techniques are set aside for an ancient ritual called “wassailing,” where the coming year’s apple crop is blessed, evil spirits are chased away and cider is enthusiastically drunk by hundreds of spectators.

Dating from at least the 13th century, wassailing (the word derives from an Old English toast to good health, “waes hael”) seemed to have almost died out by the 1990s.

But recently, it has made a comeback at cider makers and community events, particularly in the west of England, spurred by growing interest in tradition and folklore, a renewed respect for the countryside and a desire among some Britons to liven up the grim winter months with a party.