Imbolc is my favourite festival - a real celebration of optimism!

For those of you who don't know, Imbolc is a traditional Celtic festival, marking the beginning of spring. In our village, people celebrate with a fantastic fire show, with fire-swingers and other performers, including singers, drummers and dark Foxes who dance with fire. And at the climax of the spectacle, the Green Man battles Jack Frost - and always wins! - so that spring can arrive.

But since Imbolc is traditionally held at the beginning of February, spring is usually still a long way off. This year, snow began to fall here on the first of February, and by the night of the fire festival, it lay thick on the ground. I love the way everyone carries on and celebrates the arrival of spring, whatever the weather! The fireworks and performance are symbolic: there's light shining bright despite the dark, there's celebration and fun at a time of year that's generally pretty miserable, and there's promise of much better times to come.

Flow x