Our Festivals
Festivals are a vital part of our year. They are an important way in which we come together as a school community. Celebrating festivals brings a sense of rhythm and anticipation as well as a connection to the cycles of nature. Festivals help us nourish and deepen our connection to the earth and each other through the sharing of stories, songs, and activities linked to the seasons and expressed with reverence and beauty.
In late September or early October, near the Autumn equinox, we celebrate Michaelmas. This ancient festival celebrates the inner strength and courage we hold both as individuals and as a community. Michael is a symbolic leader throughout the world for the force of good over evil and courage over cowardice. The celebration of Michaelmas teaches the importance of overcoming fear and strengthening resolve. Through stories, songs, and plays the children celebrate the light of their own courage in the darkening days of Autumn.
In November we celebrate the Lantern Walk. This festival creates a time to reflect upon the qualities of our inner light: hope, kindness, and service to others in need. This celebration is an evening of beauty, wonder, and inspiration.
December is a time for going deeper into ourselves, becoming more reflective and quiet. But even as the days become shorter, the nighttime darkness encompassing more of our waking hours, we find the light which is necessary to keep us warm and to show us the way. The Spiral of Light Festival is an evening of wonder and beauty in which our collective lights dispel the darkness.
The month of May is made joyous by our May Day Festival. We honor and celebrate the changing of the seasons from darkness to light through song and dance. To the delight of our children, the faculty erect our maypole and the year’s worth of inward and outward growth is celebrated by all.
We invite student families, supportive members of the Triangle's Waldorf community and homeschooling families to join us in celebrating the in-breath and out-breath of the seasons.
