Martinstag 2021
Today at our Farmoor setting we celebrated Martinstag, a festival held annually in parts of Germany. Martinstag was introduced to us by Nat, one of our practitioners, 5 years ago in collaboration with a German family at Farmoor. We have celebrated it every year since.
In the evening on St. Martin’s Day there are lantern processions (Martinsumzüge or Laternenumzüge) in towns and cities all over Germany. Often they are lead by an actor impersonating the Saint, usually dressed up as a Roman soldier riding on a horse. At the end of the procession people gather around a large bonfire to sing songs dedicated to St. Martin, eat sweet pastries and drink mulled wine.
As the daylight faded we dressed up in our coats and wellies and headed down to the orchard. The lights were mesmerising, there were many lights of all different kinds. Some of the team brought in their lanterns from home and the children were fascinated to see so many of them in the trees.
We drank hot chocolate amongst the lights and we tried some delicious gingerbread biscuits we had made during the day. What a wonderful afternoon of lights and fun.
