For the first time Ely Cathedral will receive the National Harvest Torch at the Harvest Festival Songs of Praise, which takes place this Sunday (October 14) at 4pm.
The torch will formally be presented to the Dean of Ely, Mark Bonney, by former Ely Cathedral chorister Thomas Allen.
The is part of the national Bring Home the Harvest campaign which aims to encourage more people to get involved with local harvest celebrations.
It was made by a master blacksmith and covered with apples and fronds of wheat to symbolise the harvest. The initial service introducing the torch was held in Westminster Abbey in 2013.
Since then the torch has travelled across the UK to be hosted by cathedrals. In 2019, it will go on display this harvest weekend.
During Harvest Weekend there will be a range of food and floral displays whilst sheep, supplied by farmers from Rampton, take up temporary residence inside the cathedral.
Other exhibitors include Cambridgeshire Beekeepers, Farmland Museum at Denny Abbey, G’s, the Cathedral Flower Guild, Tompsett Growers Ltd and Cambridge-based research organisation NIAB. The Lady Chapel will be hosting activities for children on the Saturday, too.
Ely Cathedral harvest celebrations take place between Friday 12 and Sunday 14 October.
On Monday October 15 the best of the produce will be sold off at 9.30am inside the cathedral, with money raised going to this year’s chosen charity, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Rural Support Group.
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