Observed on April 30, Walpurgis Night is a centuries-old festival blending bonfires, folklore and a famously witchy reputation.
Celebrated across northern Europe and Scandinavia, it mixes older pagan spring rites with later Christian tradition. St. Walburga was an 8th-century English missionary and abbess later canonized in Germany. In Sweden, the night is known for bonfires and folk songs. In Germany, costumes, pranks and loud noises are meant to scare off evil spirits. In Finland, it rolls into the massive May Day celebration called Vappu.
Depending where you are, it can feel part spring festival, part Halloween and part all-night party.
– Staff report with AI assist*, The Today 100
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