Chester Saturnalia 2010

Saturnalia was a popular Roman midwinter festival celebrating the god Saturn, which lasted for several days. Saturn was the god of agriculture and worship of him hopefully encouraged prosperity to come. It was a time to eat,drink and be merry and there was a tradition of tomfoolery and role reversal, where masters became servants and vice versa in a similar way to the Lord of Misrule of later Christmas celebrations. As Chester was a major Roman centre in the UK and the residents are proud of their heritage, it is celebrated here with a torch-lit parade of Roman Centurions to the beat of a drum with dancers and entertainers as well as rites to Saturn himself.

Find out more about this event - and other British Calendar Customs - at www.calendarcustoms.com

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Travel & Events

Tags:

• Chester
• Saturnalia
• Roman
• Parade
• December
• 2010
• Calendar
• Custom