This week in our Broomy’s Bairns art class, we celebrated the Celtic Pagan holiday of Samhain, which is traditional held between the 31st of October, and the 1st of November.  This is a liminal holiday celebrating the change from summer to winter, or the lighter to darker days, and with that, celebrating the dead and the belief that the space between the world of the living, and the world of the dead, is easier to cross during this time.

There are many historic depictions of this holiday and the celebrations surrounding it.  There would have been large gatherings around bonfires, with fireworks, feasting and divinations with carved turnips, and gatherings of mythical creatures, like fairies and goblins.

After learning about Samhain, the children spent the afternoon ripping up pieces of red, orange and yellow tissue paper, and sticking this onto black paper, making their own bonfire.  Once they had done this, we gave each of them a piece of white paper, where they were free to draw, and colour-in anything they wanted to see, dancing around the fire.  Some of the children chose to add characters from their favourite cartoons, while others chose the traditional Samhain goblins and fairies.

The Broomy’s Bairns Art Classes are every Wednesday at the Broomhill Art Flat, with the first session starting at 3.30pm, until 4.30pm, then the next session starting at 4.40pm, and finished up at 5.30pm.

If you would like to register your interest for a child to attend the Broomy’s Bairns workshops, please call RIG Arts on 01475 649359 or email info@rigarts.org.