MARSDEN is preparing for one of the area’s most popular events of the year.

Hundreds of families are expected in the village this weekend for the Imbolc Fire Festival. The community will for the 18th year host the ancient Celtic celebration, a tradition which is said to date back 2,000 years.

It is held every year to mark the beginning of Spring.

Fire and purification are an essential aspect of the festival, and the main event is a spectacular torchlight procession on Saturday evening through the village.

The procession will end at Standedge Tunnel, a popular tourist attraction in the area since the re-opening of the HuddersfieldNarrow Canal.

There will also be other amazing features in the festival such as fire sculptures, a fire circus and the ultimate battle between Jack Frost and the Green Man.

The festival attracted more than 2,000 people last year.

Festival organiser Angie Boycott-Garnett said: “The turn out at last year’s events was tremendous and the feedback we got from visitors was really heartening.

“The battle we stage between Jack Frost and the Green Man is a real family favourite and over the years Imbolc has become a key date in the local event calendar with families attracted from all around the region.

“I’d encourage anyone who hasn’t been before to make a trip to Standedge themselves to see what a great event it is.”

Imbolc is the cross-quarter festival that heralds the start of the spring quarter of the year and the end of the winter quarter.

Even though it occurs at the coldest time of the year, it marks the time at which days become noticeably longer.

It is one of the four principal festivals of the Irish calendar, celebrated either at the beginning of February or at the first local signs of Spring.

Originally dedicated to the goddess Brighid, in the Christian period it was adopted as St Brigid’s Day.

There have been other events in the run-up to the festival including a walk led by Castle Hill Ranger Julian Brown and lantern-making workshops for families, at the Standedge Centre.

There will also be story telling events held at Marsden Mechanics Hall on Friday, February 5, at 7.30pm.

For the main festival, which is free, members of the public should meet at Marsden Railway Station car park at 7pm for the procession to Standedge. It’s recommended that people do not bring their dogs as fireworks may distress animals.