St. Lucia Festival

 Leila participated in her very first St. Lucia Festival this December! Each year, PLU holds a Lucia Festival and children are welcomed to be junior Lucias, tomtens (Swedish elves) or star boys. St. Lucia Day is a Swedish holiday that celebrates Lucia, an Italian saint who took care of the Swedish people during the winter. She would bring food and water to the people, walking through the cold and snowy country on winter nights. Her name, Lucia, means light. Lucia Festivals are celebrated each year on December 13th and children dress up as either Lucia, star boys (to represent the night sky) or tomtens. We had an AMAZING time! Leila and the group performed a few songs in Swedish and the speaker shared all about Sweden's Lucia festivities. 

 The entire Festival was lit by candles. PLU's C.K. Hall was beautiful! 

After the singing and Lucia crowning were finished, there were yummy pepperkakors and Lussekatter to eat and dancing around the Christmas tree with more Swedish singing. Jultomten even visited the children! He called each child by name and presented them with a gift. 

 Jultomten gave Leila a Lucia doll. What a keepsake! We have already marked our calendar for next year's Lucia Festival! We are proud to be participating in something our ancestors would have long ago.