Laterne! Laterne! Sonne, Mond und Sterne…
A ‘Sankt Martin’s Tag’ lantern parade is a beloved tradition for children in Germany. Saint Martin’s Day is celebrated on November 11th and I remember it as a day that rang in the joyful winter season that culminates in the year’s most festive celebration, Christmas. As a tasty precursor to all the delicious Christmas cookies, kids are offered “Weckmänner”that day, a pastry that’s made of sweet leavened dough, in the form of a man.
GermanPacificSchool in San Diego and GermanSchoolCampus in Newport Beach, both had their lantern parades already early this year and they sent us some cool pictures. While GermanSchoolCampus celebrated in Irvine and walked along Woodbridge lake, GermanPacificSchool had its lantern walk on Mission Bay combined with a bonfire on the beach.
To get you in the right holiday mood here in sunny California we have put together a little compilation of Saint Martin’s Day celebrations in SoCal for you!
If you live in Northern California, watch out for lantern parade happenings this weekend! Two we have listed for you right here:
1 ) German Language School of Marin has its Laternenfest in Novato & Santa Rosa on Saturday, November 12 at 5:30pm!
2 ) Bay Area Kinderstube in Albany has a Laternenfest for all, who live in the Berkeley/San Francisco area on Saturday, November 12 at 4:00pm. (Check out our earlier post on this topic that offers more details on where & when)
Get in the right mood for Saint Martin’s Day with our slide show:
Slide-Show Images: GermanSchoolCampus & GermanPacificSchool
Image: “Kinder beim Martinssingen”, © Superbass / CC-BY-SA-4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
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Let us know what you think!