FESTIVALS

Seasonal Celebrations

Many people are drawn to Steiner Education for the sense of enrichment that comes with the celebration of seasonal festivals. Nowadays more than ever humanity confronts nature surrounding us as a stranger, a resource to be utilized, abused, discarded and ignored. The seasons come and go as matters of indifference. This feeling of disconnection serves to erode the innocent sense of wonder that is within all of us, until we are not even aware of its existence.

Celebrating seasons as special times give us all a chance to pause and consider the many ways we are blessed and sustained by the cycles of nature. This is the way of stirring each child's emotions so we can touch their sense of wonder. Thus we provide an opportunity to feel that what is happening inside reflects the changes in nature.

A Family Festival

The festivals are presented with beauty and grace, the language of the child. The children prepare songs and dance or ceremonies to share with the community. Families are invited to come along, usually in the last week of every term, and join in the festivities. The children look forward to sharing these precious moments with their families.

The Seasons

In Summer, we reflect the activity that surrounds us and lures us outside of ourselves. Summer is celebrated with action and fun, its expression is dancing, music or games. All conducted outdoors with joy, delight and laughter. It is the time for poking fun at ourselves. A time for remembering that even though life can be serious & stressful at times there is always the sun to burn away our woes & weaknesses and draw us to new heights. We join this festival with our goodbye ceremony for class seven.

In Spring, the natural light increases and the seeds bring us leaf and blossom. Humanity, emerging from winter darkness, finds joy in the surrounding world. It is the time of expression of ourselves. Moving from inside to out with all kinds of activity, from music and dance to drama and works of art. Spring festival reflects the artist in us all at this time of year. In Spring, we celebrate the budding and renewal of life forces with a games afternoon.

In Winter, the earth is quiet, plants and seeds have withdrawn into the ground, the sun is low and the air is cold. Under these conditions the inner activity of thinking renews itself. Winter is a solemn time of reflection and cognition. We use the symbol of fire to reflect this feeling and to remind us of the promise that the light of the sun will come again soon. Children carry homemade lanterns to speak of the light kindled by humanity in contrast to the increasing darkness of the world outside.

Autumn, is the time when the brightness of the summer season begins to fade outside of ourselves. It is the natural time for us to express the harvest of our efforts, things we have made and done. It is also the time to regroup and have courage to recreate or make a new start. There is a natural movement from without to within. The autumn festival reflects this by guiding us from outside into a sheltered environment where we display our efforts for the first term.

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