Why Are Festivals Important to a Waldorf School?

I like to think of Waldorf schools as a social movement of sorts. That the schools were born out of the ashes of war and in the shadows social injustice, and that they exist today because people still hold a desire to leave the world a better place. Rudolf Steiner and his contemporaries lived with the hope that we can learn from the past and change the things that are no longer working, and not just for ourselves but for all people, everywhere. It is really a response to the need to be better, live better, that things can change for the better. As a consequence we are not just sending our kids to school but we are collectively working toward a better day.

Mahatma Gandhi once said, "Be the change you want to see in the world." I think that is what Rudolf Steiner was trying to do during his lifetime. I think that is what a Waldorf school strives to embody.  

Leo Klein reminded me that Rudolf Steiner said that a Waldorf school should be like a beacon of light out into the night; like a light house. It exists not only for what is inside but for what is outside as well. A Waldorf school radiates. A school only achieves that radiance if it is willing to be more than a building, more than an educational facility. A school is only a beacon if it manifests a heart. That heart is created through the community life of a school, and the connections we make with one another.

Festivals are fundamentally necessary for a true Waldorf school. It is the festival life of a school that helps to create the community; not just within the school but connects us to the world-wide community. It is the community that holds the heart of a school. It is those bonds we form and those memories we create (for both ourselves and our children), through festivals, that give our school heart. How many people would we know from school if we dropped off and picked up children without ever getting out of the car, or never volunteered, or never attended a meeting or function?  

Festivals help to create a living school, one with the potential to be more than just a building but a light radiating into the darkness. It is through connection to one another that we gain a sense of responsibility to each other and our communities world wide.

Paul Carlson, Enrollment Director