Michaelmas at Charlottesville Waldorf School: A Festival of Courage, Community, and Homecoming
Each autumn, as the days grow shorter and the leaves begin to change, Charlottesville Waldorf School gathers to celebrate Michaelmas – a festival of courage, inner strength, and renewal. This seasonal tradition, observed by Waldorf schools around the world, reminds us that just as the earth prepares for winter’s darkness, we too must summon the bravery to meet life’s challenges with clarity and purpose.
Our Michaelmas celebration begins with the Michaelmas Pageant, performed by the Grade School. Through story, music, and movement, the pageant brings to life the legend of St. George and the Dragon – a timeless tale of courage overcoming fear and of recognizing the power of the dragon in each of us. For our younger grade school students, tasks of courage offer opportunities to test their strength, balance, and resolve in playful but meaningful ways. Together, these experiences help students of all ages recognize that bravery is not the absence of fear, but the will to meet it with open hearts and steady hands.
This year, we are thrilled to expand the festival with a new tradition: Michaelmas Homecoming! Alongside our beloved pageant and the Michaelmas Fair, we’re planning a weekend of events to welcome alumni back to campus and into the broader Charlottesville community. Whether it has been one year or twenty since graduation, we look forward to reconnecting with former students and families, sharing stories, and celebrating the enduring spirit of Waldorf education.
Michaelmas at CWS is a living reminder that courage grows when it is shared, nurtured, and celebrated in community. We invite current families, alumni, and friends to join us in honoring this rich tradition, as we kindle the light of courage for the year ahead.
Michaelmas Pageant
Friday, September 26, 2025
8:30am in the Pavilion at CWS
Michaelmas, or the Feast of Michael and All Angels, is celebrated on the 29th of September each year (our school celebrates on the closest Friday). Falling near the Autumnal Equinox on the calendar, it is often the first Festival celebrated during the school year in Waldorf Schools. There is usually a harvest aspect to the celebration, apple cider and pumpkin muffins are a staple! The fiery colors of the dragon are reflected in the changing leaves and the pageant costumes of the students.
The Michaelmas Pageant tells the legend of Saint George conquering the dragon with the aid of the archangel Saint Michael, freeing a noble princess from a horrible fate. Rather than kill the beast, Saint George tames it and the villagers take it in and teach it to plough the fields, overcoming their greatest fear and putting it to work for their advantage.
An archangel in the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic traditions, Saint Michael here represents the courage of each individual. Waldorf schools around the world celebrate Michaelmas because it is a reminder that the dragon and the saint are both within us, the dragon representing cold rationality with no moral compass, leading us to evil, and the archangel Michael demonstrating the inner strength, initiative, and selflessness we must nurture in order to conquer our fears and anxieties and harness them to serve our more noble purposes. Into darkness, fear, apathy and depression, Michael wields his sword of light that we may be inspired to face inner and outer darkness with renewed strength of will and purpose in our lives.
