A harvest service giving thanks to the farmers who put food on our plates is to take place in Worcester.

This year’s Farmers’ Harvest Festival will take place at 6.30pm on Sunday, October 2 in Worcester Cathedral.

As well as giving thanks to farmers, it will also be a chance to celebrate rural life in general. 

The service is organised by the Chaplaincy for Agriculture and Rural Life (CARL) and the preacher will be the Bishop of Dudley, Martin Gorick.

There will be a procession by Worcestershire Young Farmers, who will bring various gifts to the altar.

Prayers will be offered focussing on the concerns of a range of organisations involved in farming and rural life. There will also be a collection for the Anglican Communion Fund and the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institute. 

Rev David Morris, the chairman of CARL, said: “The harvest celebration is an important one for the farming community and all people involved in rural life.

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Mayor of Worcester leads procession for Service of Thanksgiving at Worcester Cathedral

“It’s an opportunity to come together and thank God for our crops and livestock at a time when hopefully the harvest has been ‘safely gathered in’.

“We’d be delighted for people to come and join us at this special service and help celebrate our beautiful countryside and all those who work in it for all our benefit.”  

All are welcome to the Harvest festival, which will feature traditional and more modern hymns of thanks and an anthem by the Cathedral Voluntary Choir. There will be light refreshments available afterwards in the Chapter House.

'UK's biggest Harvest Festival' at Malvern Autumn Show

Another event marking the end of the growing season takes place this week at the Three Counties Showground.

The Malvern Autumn Show, which claims to feature the UK’s biggest Harvest Festival, runs from September 23-25.

As well as the Harvest Zone, a highlight of the show is sure to be the RHS Flower Show, which showcases the UK’s best nurseries and growers and their spectrum of specialist blooms, as they compete for the coveted gold medal from the RHS judges.

“The Malvern Autumn Show is a celebration of one of the most exciting and vibrant British seasons,” said the showground’s shows manager Jane Edwards. “We are delighted to bring back an amazing array of flowers, plants, experts, traditional skills, animals and food and drink from across our three counties.”