7th annual City of Dublin Winter Solstice Celebration Festival took place on 21st of December. The activities started at DIT Grangegorman Campus in the evening at 6 o’clock, and it was announced that after that there will be a parade and lighting the fire. We have never taken part of the previous Festivals but it seemed interesting to go and see what is going to happen.
Celebrating Solstice is an old pagan tradition and quite familiar also in Estonia and why not to celebrate the coming of the winter. Of course, we both don’t like it too much but maybe it’s a good way to get a better and milder winter 🙂 The good news which is worth to celebrate is that the days are going to be longer again and we are slowly going to move towards spring again.
We didn’t manage to go so early, so we missed a lot – for example making the Solstice Lanterns, pleading the Solstice Wreaths, making the wishes for throwing them into the fire and dancing Irish Dances, which we saw a little bit and we were also not so well prepared, so we didn’t have any lanterns, decorations or costumes either.
We marched with the colourful and noisy crowd with different drums and other jingling things to the Smithfield Square and took part of the Solstice fire Ceremony.
Despite haven’t prepared our papers with wishes we didn’t let this moment pass without making any, so we had to be creative. I found a napkin from my bag, so I pulled it into two halves and we both whispered our wish into the napkin, make a knot and send it away with the fire. Sean was a bit surprised because that creativity came from my side but a woman from this Solstice team heard me explaining it and said that it’s just the right way how these things will work. Of course, they are, I am from Estonia, I know how to talk to Nature, especially with Fire 🙂 Now our wishes are sent to the place where they are going to come true and they definitely will, I know it.
The first time in my Dublin Christmas I had an opportunity to go to the Carol Service – unbelievable, that I didn’t do it before, especially in Dublin but somehow we just have missed it. Even this time it didn’t come up as a plan but we just found it on our way to the Christmas Market when Sean took me to see the church where he had sung as a school kid. It was a nice big Cathedral, very near to us and just on our way to the Christmas Market – St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral at Marlborough Street. When we entered the Cathedral a Boys’ Choir were rehearsing for their concert and they were so cute and nice that we changed our plans and stayed for the Carol Service which was just to begin after an hour. It was the best choice because the service was so nice and it was so good to listen to a Boys’ Choir  – a real Christmas feeling with Carols. After the service, I had a chance to shake hands with the priest and say thank you. It was really one of these nice small things and I am so happy that we both enjoyed it – we both have been singing in choirs, so why not 🙂
Dublin Accent 