The Harvest Festival

The Harvest Festival is an important part of a lot of cultures across the world. You’ve most likely heard of Thanksgiving, one of the biggest holidays in the US. This originates from when English settlers, the pilgrims, shared a harvest feast with the Wampanoag people, a tribe of native Americans. However, the harvest is celebrated across the world and every country has their own way of doing it. China has the Mid-Autumn Festival, where people will traditionally eat mooncakes. In central and Eastern Europe, a Slavic Harvest Festival is celebrated, where a wreath symbolises wealth and a rich harvest. 

In the UK, harvest is celebrated because it’s when crops are harvested not only for our food but for animal feed too. The word comes from the Old English word hærfest, which means autumn. This is when all the crops are gathered and through much of history, the harvest was many people’s only food source or source of income. That is why it has become such a big celebration – while we still rely on these crops today, for many in the past crops were the basis of their entire lives. We now have machinery and technology that helps us to maintain and harvest our crops but through history people had to work very hard to make sure they grew well.  

To celebrate the harvest, we will be holding a Harvest Assembly at LPS on Tuesday 15 October. During this assembly, we’ll be singing and learning about the importance of the harvest. There will also be a representative of St. Teilos Community Food Scheme coming to the school on this day to accept donations. As it is a time of celebrating the food that we have, it’s important to make sure we share that with everyone. 

Food banks are an incredibly important part of the community. They help people in need by giving them food that’s nutritionally balanced and won’t go off. Often, food banks are also there to support the people using them too, to help them resolve the issues that have caused them to turn to the services. Food banks rely on donations to run, so it’s important that we all get involved to help.  

We would be incredibly grateful if everyone can bring in one donation on Monday 14 October. Food items you can donate can include cereal, soup, pasta, sauce, beans, tinned meat, tinned veg, tea, coffee, tinned fruit and biscuits. We want to thank you for your support, as every contribution helps to make a difference.