St. Martin’s Parade

Location: Utrecht, Netherlands

Date: November 11th; All Hallows’ Eve

Description:
St. Marten’s Celebrations consist of a week-long set of events, culminating in a lantern procession held in the Town Centre of Utrecht. Today’s parade/procession is a secular revival of the celebration of St. Martin (the city’s patron saint), emphasizing charity and community solidarity. The origin of present-day festivities was the founding of the Sint Maartensberaad Utrecht (Saint Martins’ Assembly Utrecht), in April 2001. The celebrations cobble together music, art, food, exhibitions and lectures, with the support of the city, NGOs, schools and arts communities. The centrepiece is a lantern procession, which draws roughly 7,000 participants and audience members.

 

Links:

Sharing Arts Society
Sint Maarten Utrecht
Dutch Center for Intangible Cultural Heritage