Mid-Winter Festival of St. John

In the dark of the early evening on one of the longest nights of the year we celebrated our annual Mid-Winter Festival of St John. It’s a beautiful festival marked by a multitude of handmade lanterns. Every year the children prepare their lanterns in the preceding weeks. Older classes create lanterns out of complex geometric forms, while younger classes focus on the colourful windows. It was a lovely night for the traditional candlelight  procession of lanterns leading out from the courtyard, where they were lit from a central vessel, down to the pond. The light shone forth from their lanterns reflecting on pond below as the stars twinkled above, with the children (and parents) singing out into the dark night, bringing warmth and light into our hearts. At last, torches were lit and the older students guided our way to the bonfire where baked potato, kumara and a warm fruit punch awaited.

It is lovely to see so many former pupils, parents and teachers  attending the festival.