Lucia is celebrated on the 13th December annually in Sweden but the festival has ancient roots.
Celebrated for centuries, St Lucy’s Day is a welcoming back of the light at the time of year when the short days mean darkness and cold. To mark the occasion girls and boys dress in white gowns and process through towns, villages, churches and schools, followed by Christmas elves. Songs and music accompany the groups.
One of the nicest benefits of having studio in the centre of Greymouth is the diversity of visitors. Tourists wander down from the train station, locals pop in for a chat, friends from afar come along, and people who chance upon the studio curiously peer through the windows and then come to see what it is all about. This week two Swedish women, both retired craft teachers and textile enthusiasts, called to make an appointment and so we celebrated Lucia with them with coffee and in the theme of tradition, ginger biscuits.
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