Walpurgis night - April 30th

2019-05-02 18:16:08

Walpurgis day is the 1. of May. This is a holiday from the Estonian national calendar, the day of witches and wisdom. Walpurgis day is preceded by the Walpurgis night, celebrated on April 30th.

People tell, that witches fly around that night. This day was named after Walburga, a female saint of the Catholic Church.Nowadays people celebrate mostly the Walpurgis night, dressed like witches, making fire and organizing parties with witch-shows.Walpurgis day is celebrated as a holiday for witches in Germany, where, according to old tradition, witches gathered for fun at Blocksberg. Nowadays it is the day of carnivals and amusements.
In Tallinn, when moving around in the city center, you can meet some old hunchbacked witches with big snags or fairies.In Tartu city, for example, the student parade passes through the city to the university, where they are welcomed by the rector. From there it goes to the monument of Karl Ernst von Baer, where the statues head will be washed with shampagne and the speeches are given. Then the people head to make a fire and sing.

I added some of my own photos of Walpurgis night here. All 3 photos took a grate photographer Andres Neumann.

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