• Pchum Ben

    Pchum Ben, or “Ancestor’s Day,” is celebrated in late September/early October, and marks the end of the rainy season. During this festival Cambodians believe the veil between worlds is thin and ancestors are able to visit. At our school we celebrate the ideas of respect for our ancestors, the Michaelmas idea of bravely doing the right thing while we are on earth, and a celebration of All Hallows Eve. We organize a trip each year to a local pagoda with an offering of food and flowers for the monks.

  • Bon Om Touk

    Bon Om Touk, or “Water Festival,” is a…. Lantern festival, celebrating the life-giving river, Martinmas, Diwali.

  • Garden of Light

    Integrating advent, Christmas, and Hannukah

  • Khmer New Year

    Ending of the rainy season, coming of the King of Heaven, coming of spring, Easter, rebirth, all things new, Purim, Eid al Fitre.

  • Midsummer

    Heat, Sun, Royal ploughing, Visak Bochea, end of school

Yearly festivals play an important part in Waldorf education. They mark changes in nature, the passage of time, and provide an opportunity for our school community to meet and connect. Our festivals are drawn from a variety of cultures and traditions and are linked to the extent possible to the two seasons in Cambodia: Rainy and Dry. In addition to the festivals listed below, individual classes may decide to celebrate festivals according to the interests and cultures represented in their class at that time.

 

Dry Season. Background on rainy season. 

 

Pchum Ben: Late September/Early October (lunar)

Pchum Ben is a festival in which Cambodians celebrate their ancestors long passed. It is celebrated with a trip to the Pagoda. Although Cambodia is tropical and harvest occurs year-round, Pchum Ben marks a larger harvest, and the sharing of the plenty with the monks at the pagoda. Gecko Garden School marks Pchum Ben with special foods and activities in the classroom, and a walking field trip to the Pagoda to take offerings to the monks and receive blessings for the year to come. 

 

Michaelmas: 29 September

Michaelmas is a traditional European holiday celebrated in many Waldorf schools. It celebrates the harvest, and is also linked to stories of Saint Michael and St. George overcoming dragons. At our primary school this festival is marked by making bread in the shape of a dragon, and considering overcoming challenges (dragons) that we face in our own lives with courage and kindness.

 

Halloween: 30 October

The presence of many American families at Gecko Garden through the years has left a decades-long tradition of the celebration of Halloween. Its originates as a festival marking a time when the veil between worlds is thin (as Pchum Ben). Halloween is celebrated at Gecko Garden with costumes which focus on creativity and fun rather than spookiness, and a transformation of the preschool playground to a “Trick-or-Treat” wonderland. 

 

Bon Om Touk (Water Festival): Late October/early November (lunar)

Bon Om Touk is the Khmer festival marking the end of the monsoon season and the reversal in flow of the Tonle Sap River. It is an expression of gratitude for fresh water, plentiful fish, and the rich and renewed sediment in the farmland which the river leaves behind as the flooding reverses. Dragon boat races and releasing floating lanterns called “bratib” or “loy kantong” of various sizes and forms into the river are traditional ways to show respect to Ganga, the Hindu goddess who from Angkorian times has been considered the protector of the sacred river. Our classes celebrate by making small loy kantong, floating lanterns, and will float it on a river that we will set up at school, sending gratitude and wishes for peace and goodwill into the universe. We incorporate into this Cambodian lantern festival the traditional Martinmas themes of warmth and generosity that are celebrated by Waldorf schools around the world at this time of year.

 

Advent: from the fourth Sunday before Christmas

 

Saint Nicholas Day: 05 December