Children celebrate St. Martin's Day and go door to door with lanterns

Children go from door to door on Saturday evening with lanterns, hoping to get sweets or fruit by singing songs. They do this in honor of the Christian holiday of St. Martin, a day dedicated to sharing.

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According to the Catholic story, St. Martin is a soldier who shares all his possessions and money with the poor. In the end, all he has left is his coat, a robe of rank. One cold evening, when he comes across a beggar whom all his comrades are passing by, he cuts his coat in half with a sword and gives one half to the beggar. According to the story, this beggar is supposed to be Jesus. The soldier, later bishop and saint, was buried in Tours, France, on November 11, 397.

Today's children's walk with a lantern goes back to the earlier action of going to the doors of rich people. They prepared for the winter by asking for food and fuel. In the second half of the last century, St. Martin's Day was popularized by anthroposophical schools. In Utrecht, the festival has been an intangible cultural heritage since 2012.