Annual Festivals

In every season lives a story. Every child holds the seeds.

Join us in celebration!

In the Waldorf community, we teach our children (and remind ourselves) to notice and respond to the seasons' rhythms, energies, and gifts. The natural world's rhythms often echo the seasons of our lives. So, we celebrate our connections to each other and Mother Earth with festivals and events that honor the larger life forces that live, simultaneously, within and beyond us.

As Wildflowers Holmschool prepares for each festival, we bring the stories, songs, and natural materials of each season into our curriculum. Our teachers and staff share crafts, create puppet plays, prepare seasonal foods, and foster imaginative play.

Our festivals cultivate an enriching sense of community for the children.

Through celebration, and potluck meals we bring our families together in truly meaningful ways.

The children honor Lady Spring and King Winter, they hunt for frost fairies and dance on the steps of their own shadows. Childhood is magical, just as the natural world has its magic and mysteries, especially through the eyes of our children.

Much of what you’ll read here represents adult experiences. So, how can we bring these adult experiences into the realm of childhood experience and meaning? We do so by finding our feelings, simple or complex, about this time of year, and we hold that feeling for our children. Consciously. Mindfully. Presently. In the power of imitation, our children learn and grow in their human experience by reflecting what we have to offer, eventually making it or adapting it as their own. …Just as the great roots of the old oak tree are hidden in the small acorn, what we as adults carry consciously during each festival is like a seed planted in our children and in our community.

Lantern Walk

Lantern Walk is a community favorite! In late fall, we gather at sunset to warm ourselves with fresh gingerbread cookies and hot cider, often listening in to a short seasonal story before we light our lanterns and commence in a kind of moving meditation. Singing softly, we walk, carrying lantern lights that guide us, admiring the beautiful light of our own, and every lantern in our procession.

The lanterns remind us that we can carry our light into the darkest times (seasonally or spiritually). We find strength in seeing how brightly we can light the way when we come together as a community. Through Lantern Walk, we teach our children (and remind ourselves) of our unique light that not only lights our way but can be a beacon for anyone else who can see it.