Spring has always been associated with new life, birth, fertility, and growth. Of course, it’s not hard to imagine why. When the paralyzing effect of winter is finally over, everything seems to come back to life. There’s movement, noise, sun, and lots of food. People in the past, as well as today, have many reasons to be happy for the warmer weather! And when people are happy, they celebrate with music and dance. In this article, we’re going to explore some of the most popular Spring festivals around the world and learn about the significance of spring.
Kids would enjoy hearing about the unique customs of people from different cultures that all celebrate one event. Not only will they learn more about history and culture, but they’ll also become more tolerant and accepting of the diversity that exists among us.
Finally, at the end of the day, kids will learn ten new ways to have fun and joyfully celebrate the spring season. And, who knows? Maybe you’ll be inspired and visit some of the places we’ll share during their spring celebrations.
How Do People Celebrate Spring?
Spring festivals around the world revolve around the same principle which is celebrating growth, new life, and fertility. Because of this, it would be understandable if the customs around the spring festivals are similar. But, are they?
Well, people are incredibly creative, which is why spring festivals around the world look very different. Some color eggs and eat rabbits made out of chocolate, some cover their faces with neon powder, while others believe water can clean out their past and set them up for a fresh start.
While Easter and Passover are not really spring festivals but rather religious holidays, they’re certainly associated with spring in more ways than one. Check out our facts and worksheet bundles, as well as our article titled “Teach Kids the History of Easter,” to learn more about the symbolism and associations of these holidays with spring.
In the meantime, let’s see how the rest of the world welcomes spring.
Spring Festivals Around the World
То give you a comprehensive image of how people around the world celebrate spring, we’ve included both ancient and modern, as well as official full-blown festivals and cultural customs that are widespread in a certain region or country.
Hanami (Cherry Blossoms Festivals) – Japan
The Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival, popularly known as Hanami or “Sakura”, is an annual event through which the people welcome spring.
The welcoming of spring typically refers to the act of viewing transient flowers (blossoms), literally translated from “Hamani,” and the traditions associated with this act date back over a thousand years when the aristocrats wrote poems inspired by the beauty of the blossoms.
The name “Sakura,” on the other hand, translates to cherry blossoms, which refer to most, if not all the blossoms during spring in this region.
The date of the festival varies from year to year because it depends on the blossoms forecast. Also, it’s not a centralized thing that happens in the city center because most of the cherry trees are planted in specialized gardens, parks, and countrysides.
During the festival, people celebrate by organizing picnics under the trees in the parks. They eat delicious food and drink sake. Since the practice is so widespread, finding a spot under the trees can prove to be a challenge. This is why it’s not uncommon for people to stake out a spot early in the morning or even a day in advance.
If there’s a cherry blossom park in your local town, try to organize a picnic with delicious food and refreshing drinks to celebrate with your kids or students.
Songkran Water Festival – Thailand
Another popular spring festival is the Songkran Water Festival in Thailand, which is a very important event in the Buddhist calendar. The water festival was part of Thai’s New Year celebration until 1888 after which Thailand began celebrating New Year’s on the 1st of January.
Even though today, New Year’s Eve and Songkran are not aligned, the festival remains one of the most important holidays in this country. The name Songkran (Sanskrit: saṃkrānti) means “astrological passage,” symbolizing the transformation and changes that occur when winter ends and spring begins.
The festival usually lasts three to five days during which a variety of symbolic traditions are being performed. There are massive water fights on the streets, sand pagodas, group dance performances, and colorful parades.
The main theme, however, is water, hence the name. Crowds of people gather on the stress and splash buckets of water soaking everyone in the vicinity. The water is a cleansing symbol believed to have the power to free the person of the past year’s misfortunes. This way, the person is ready to welcome the New Year (since Songkran was a New Year’s celebration in the past) clean and fresh.
However, along with changes and new beginnings, the family is the second association with the Songkran Water Festival. This is why the festival celebrations were extended to last up to five days in the last couple of years – so people can have more time to go back home to their families.
White House Easter Egg Roll – USA
Egg rolling is a traditional custom in many countries that celebrate Easter. It’s usually organized for the kids in the form of a racing game, but different nations have different versions of the game.
The origins of this fun Easter tradition started long ago when writers such as Jacob Grimm associated Easter with ancient festivals held in the name of the spring goddess, Eostre. They believed that Eostre’s symbols were the spring hare and eggs, representing the rebirth of the land. However, the egg rolling itself began in 1814 when Dolley Madison, the wife of President James Madison, initiated Easter egg games.
In the United States, egg rolling is now a big annual tradition that takes place on the White House South Lawn each Easter Monday where the hosts are the President of the United States and the First Lady. Children gather and push an egg through the grass with a long-handled spoon. The goal is to be the first one to roll their egg to the finish line.
Holi – Northern India
You might haven’t heard of Holi, but you have surely seen the colorful, neon powders splashed in the air and all over people’s faces. If you have, then this is thanks to an annual festival known as the “Festival of Love” or the “Festival of Colors” in India.
Holi is actually an ancient Hindu festival that celebrates the eternal love of Radha Krishna, but also the triumph of good over evil that’s seen through the arrival of spring. And, although it’s a religious festival, it’s embraced by many non-Hindus nations.
The festival is usually held in the second half of March and lasts 24 hours – one night and one day. During the celebrations, people first gather in front of bonfires, perform religious rituals, and pray. This happens the night before the festival. In the morning, the Rangwali Holi (Dhuleti) – festival of colors – begins. It’s an event where anyone can take part. It’s celebrated as a big gathering where people smear paint all over each other and play with water guns. Of course, dances and loud music is part of the celebrations, too.
Today, aside from the religious symbolism, the festival represents love, laughter, forgiveness, and repairment of broken relationships.
Floriade – Australia
Traveling to yet another side of the world, we came across Floriade – the biggest celebration of spring in Australia.
Floriade is a flower and entertainment festival held annually in the country’s capital. It’s considered an official celebration of spring that’s observed through a spectacular display of over 1,000,000 flower blooms. There’s also music, dance performances, lots of food, and other entertainment venues.
The organization of the festival is realized thanks to more than 80 Floriade community groups that together plant flowers and help create the mesmerizing and breathtaking tulip trails.
The idea for this kind of celebration came to Christiaan Slotemaker de Bruine in 1988. He was a landscape architect who was fascinated by the Keukenhof Garden in The Netherlands, also known as the Garden of Europe, one of the world’s largest flower gardens.
The initial idea was for Floriade to be a one-time thing, but the popularity and positive feedback from the people turned it into an annual tradition.
Fun Fact: Floriade is actually held in September and October! This is because in the Southern Hemisphere spring begins on September 1st and lasts until the end of November.
Beltane – Ireland, and Scotland
Back in the Northern Hemisphere, another ancient and unique festival that honors spring is Beltane. It’s fascinating that Beltane survived the test of time and is still celebrated today.
The holiday is actually a Gaelic May Day festival that’s observed halfway through spring equinox and summer solstice, which falls on the 1st of May. It’s part of the four Gaelic seasonal holidays and has deep mythological roots.
In the past, by celebrating Beltane, people have marked the beginning of the pastoral summer season. For them, this represented that the livestock will again be able to graze on the open fields. And, while this was very beneficial for the people, it also meant the livestock will be exposed to new dangers. In that time, when there were no tools or technology to prevent disasters, people found hope in performing protection rituals and honoring the season.
The most typical ritual for Beltane is to dance and pray in front of bonfires as the smoke and ashes were considered to have protective powers. To this very day, modern celebrations of Beltane in Ireland and Scotland include setting up large bonfires.
To find out more about Beltane, check out our worksheet pack (linked in the headline) or read our guide titled “How to Celebrate Beltane With Kids.” And, of course, don’t forget to check out all the other links we’ve included that go into the details of many spring festivals around the world.
Spring Equinox at the Stonehenge
Every year at Stonehenge there are various events (natural phenomena) observed including the spring equinox.
The spring equinox (vernal equinox) falls on the 22nd of March in the Northern Hemisphere and represents the beginning of spring. Also, it’s the only time of the year, with the exception of the autumn equinox, when the day and night have approximately the same length. So, how’s this connected to Stonehenge?
Well, Stonehenge has always been associated with a lot of mystery and fascination since the monument is oriented towards the sunrise on the summer solstice and is believed to have had an astronomical significance to people in the 3000 to 2000 BC (more than 4000 years ago).
However, we should note that this is still up for debate as there is no historical evidence left for historians to analyze, and we’re left with theories and speculations.
Of course, that doesn’t stop people from gathering during the equinoxes and solstices at Stonehenge to observe the sunrise or sunset, while learning about the history of Stonehenge.
To learn more about Stonehenge, check out our worksheet pack “Stonehenge Facts & Worksheets”, and to find upcoming events at Stonehenge, check out the English Heritage website. Due to the pandemic, a lot of events are also available online for free, which is a great learning opportunity for all students.
Sechseläuten – Switzerland
The Sechseläuten festival in Switzerland is an annual tradition that started in the 20th century, although the roots of the holiday can be traced back to medieval times. The subject of the celebrations was the beginning of summer work hours that were always instituted after the vernal equinox.
The reason why summer working hours would be a joyful occasion that people would want to celebrate has to do with the organization of the work hours in general. In winter, working hours lasted until there was sunlight, meaning all day, while in summer the work stopped with the ringing of the church bells at 6 o’clock in the afternoon. Since days last longer in summer, this gave people a free couple of hours with daylight. And, over the years, this fortunate transition became a reason for celebration.
On this day, there are usually large parades and a very sensational burning of Böögg figure rituals which is considered the climax of the festival – yet the burning itself is not directly related to Sechseläuten.
The Böögg is a snowmen figure, prepared with explosives, representing winter, which is symbolically burned at the festival.
The date of the festival is usually in the last weeks of April, although it can vary.
Marzanna – Poland
The search for spring festivals around the world brought us to Poland. Marzanna is another way you can celebrate the spring equinox but in Polish style. Marzanna is the name of a Slavic goddess of cold, frost, winter, death – Morana in English. And, while the festival carries her name, it’s actually a festival that celebrates the drowning of the witch, which is why the festival is also known as Drowning of Marzanna (Topienie Marzanny).
The theme of the Marzanna festival is basically the same as the Sechseläuten festival in Switzerland. While the latter burns a snowman representing the “Böögg,” the former drowns a winter witch.
In modern-day, these rituals don’t bear the same spirituality as in the past, but for some reason, they’ve remained a big cultural aspect of the nations. Today, Marzanna represents a celebration of warm weather, growth, new life, and more socialization and outdoor activities that come along with spring and summer.
The Marzanna festival is usually held on the first day of spring, the 21st of March.
Baba Marta Day – Bulgaria
The last on our list, but certainly not least, is the Baba Marta Day rituals in Bulgaria and neighboring countries. Baba Marta Day is not a festival per se, but rather a holiday that’s observed on the 1st of March and it’s accompanied by the acute ritual of wearing martenitsas during March.
The martenitsas take various forms, but they’re usually worn on the wrists as bracelets made from red and white thread. They symbolize the coming spring and it’s believed they should be worn until the person sees a blossomed tree, flower, or a stork – meaning “spring is here!” However, it’s also common for people to simply wear the martenitsas until the end of March and then take them out.
When people see symbols of spring, they take out their martenitsas and put them on a tree, throw them in a river, or hide them under a rock. There are different superstitions behind these actions but in the foundation of them all there’s a common belief – luck, happiness, and health is going to follow the person who wore the martenitsa.
The reason why all martenitsas are made of rade and white thread is believed to be because red symbolizes life and birth, while white symbolizes new beginnings, cleanness, and innocence. However, we should note that since these customs have been orally transmitted from generation to generation, there are variations between the beliefs and practices of people in different regions. The most important thing is that at the end of the day, they all hope and pray for the happiness that spring is supposed to bring.
How to Celebrate Spring Festivals with Kids?
Of course, we don’t expect that you can hop on the next plane with your child or your students and visit Japan, India, or other places looking for spring festivals around the world. However, we do believe that these celebrations and traditions can inspire you to try new things and teach kids something more about cultural diversity.
Why not try a spring party with neon powders or gathering cherry blossoms in your local town? With the worksheet packs that we’ve linked above, you can familiarize children with some of the traditions, while with our articles (linked below), you can enact these rituals or better yet, find something more suitable that works well for your children or students.
In our spring-themed articles, we’ve shared more than 20 ways to engage kids in spring activities. Check them out to find out how.
Before You Go
We tried to include as many spring festivals around the world as we know, but if there’s one we’ve missed, feel free to contact us. Together, we can teach kids about diversity and entertaining traditions that they’ll surely enjoy! Moreover, hopefully, these traditions will inspire you to celebrate spring with kids in a new and fun way. This way, lessons will be captivating and interesting.
Talking of interesting lessons, head over to our main website and browse through our growing library of worksheet bundles and other teaching resources. With just one click, you can download a 20-page pack on any unit you might need help with.
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