Observed on

April 30th - May 1st

Observed by

Catholic Church, Lutheran Church, Anglican Communion

Country of Origin 

Germany

Celebrations/Customs

Bonfires, Dancing, Costumes

Similar/Related to:

May Day, Halloween

Key Points / Halloween Connection

- Germanic Christian festival celebrating Saint Walpurga who was said to repel witchcraft where celebrations are held to ward off evil and winter spirits for the upcoming spring season 

Brief Bio

The festival of Walpurgis Night is named after the English Christian missionary Saint Walpurga (c. 710 – 777/9) (also known as Saint Walpurgis or Walburga) was born in Devon, England, in AD 710. As a result of Saint Walpurga's evangelism in Germany, the people there converted to Christianity from heathenism. Saint Walpurga was also known to repel the effects of witchcraft.

The canonization of Walpurga and the movement of her relics to Eichstätt occurred on 1 May in the year 870, thus leading to the Feast of Saint Walpurga and its eve, Walpurgis Night, being popularly observed on this date. 

The date of Walpurgis Night coincided with an older May Eve festival, celebrated in much of northern Europe with the lighting of bonfires at night. A variety of festivals of pre-Christian origin had been celebrated at this time (halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice) to mark the beginning of summer, including Beltane in Ireland and Britain.

Folklorist Jack Santino says "Her day and its traditions almost certainly are traceable to pre-Christian celebrations that took place at this time, on the first of May".

In modern times, many Christians continue to make religious pilgrimages to Saint Walburga's tomb in Eichstätt on Saint Walburga's Day. Given that the intercession of Saint Walpurga was believed to be efficacious against evil magic, medieval and Renaissance tradition held that, during Walpurgis Night, witches celebrated a sabbath and evil powers were at their strongest. 

In German folklore, Walpurgis Night was believed to be the night of a witches' meeting on the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz mountains, a range of wooded hills in central Germany. To ward off evil and protect themselves and their livestock, people would traditionally light fires on the hillsides, a tradition that continues in some regions today. In Bavaria, the feast day is sometimes called Hexennacht, literally "Witches' Night", on which revelers dress as witches and demons, set off fireworks, dance and play loud music, which is said to drive the witches and winter spirits away.