Festelavn is sort-of like a Danish version of Halloween where kids dress up.... we had a couple of kids (teenagers) @ our door looking for candy today. At Malcom's school they're having a Festelavn thing on Monday where all the kids dress up. Malcolm wanted to go as an astronaut but all we could do on short notice was a Lion, so Lion it is. He came home on Thurdsday already decked out:
Like many holidays Festelavn has pagan origin:
"... The Danes do have a holiday similar to Halloween called Festelavn, but
it involves banging a cat and takes place in May. Like Halloween, it is
derived from a pagan ritual. It was believed that the cat had evil
spirits and you would put it in a barrel and bang on the barrel until
the evil spirits came out of the cat. My guess is all it did was drive
the cat bananas. Nowadays, the kiddies just imagine that there is a cat
inside. "
So they basically hit a pinata with a stick and get candy, much to the relief of cats everywhere and us!
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