While wassail is sweet, victory is even sweeter.
On Friday afternoon, Main Street Columbus Director Barbara Bigelow awarded the New Princess Theatre with the title of Wassail Meister, along with the trophy to accompany the title.
“We’re excited to have New Princess Theatre as first-time winners,” Bigelow said. “A lot of work goes into preparing wassail for our public and we are so happy for them. We send huge congratulations to them for their win.”
Wassail is a medieval beverage, often created using apple cider, juices, spices and other ingredients for a warm, festive flavor. It is served at Main Street Columbus’ annual Wassail Fest, where downtown businesses serve up their best recipe for wassail in order to win the title of Wassail Meister.
This year, the 19th annual Wassail Fest took place on Dec. 1, according to the Main Street Columbus website. While Bigelow did not have an exact number of ballots cast this year, she said the crowd was one of the largest she has ever seen.
The title of Wassail Meister is awarded based on ballots cast by the public during Wassail Fest, Bigelow said, along with the runner-up positions. Bigelow said Coffee House on 5th won second place in this year’s Wassail Fest and Zachary’s won third place.
William “Bart” Lawrence, owner of the New Princess Theatre, agreed with Bigelow, saying Wassail Fest is one of the biggest nights of the year for his business.
“It definitely made a big difference business-wise, for the evening,” Lawrence said. “Certainly, it gets a lot of people in businesses. Maybe they’ve wanted to come downtown but they’ve never had a reason… and now you have this event that’s great and everyone’s out here.”
Lawrence said this is the first year the New Princess Theatre has placed in Wassail Fest, let alone taken home the title of Wassail Meister.
While Lawrence expressed excitement for the bar’s victory, he gave the credit for the wassail-making to Kaylee Lindsey. She said it was her first time participating in Wassail Fest, but also cooking wassail in general.
“Honestly, I would say we just used a lot of spices,” Lindsey said. “It really just felt like Fall in a cup.”
Lindsey said she created two versions of wassail rather than just one for the competition: a non-traditional cranberry based alcoholic wassail and an apple cider based non-alcoholic wassail.
Other Wassail Fest participants included A Southern Gathering, Blades Hair Design, Cafe on Main, Cobalt’s Boutique, Columbus Arts Council, Foxhole Comics and Games, Friendly City Books, Hollyhocks Gift Shop, Hometown Realty, Hope Community Church, Justin’s Watch and Jewelry, Kids Cavern Clothing Co., Lavender Lemon Clothing Co., Little Magnolia Co., Main Street Thai, Meadows Law Group, Mira Mira, Park Place Boutique and Salon, Southern Lux and The Hive.
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