Samhain, Spooks and Sacrifice (evening event)

Artefact of the Month - Arrow Head

The culmination of our season is the Celtic Samhain Festival on the eve of 31st October. Samhain is the predecessor to Halloween and marks the end of the harvest and the beginning of the darker half of the year. Activities include storytelling around the fire in the Crannog, sacrificial wicker ram burn, apple-ducking, soup and many surprises, all lit by flaming torches. Tickets sell out each year so please book early for this hugely popular event.

Tradition has it that on this night the veil between this world and the ‘other’ world becomes thin and the ghosts of our ancestors may rise to walk amongst us. Disguises were worn and talismans and rowan branches were carried to fool or ward off evil spirits.

Our artefact of the month is a quartz barbed and tanged arrowhead which typologically dates to the Bronze Age but was found in our underwater excavations of the early Iron Age Oakbank Crannog. Did someone find this tiny, beautifully crafted point and keep it as a talisman to bring good luck or enhance hunting prowess?

Come in ‘guise and bring a jack-o-lantern to light your own way into the spirit world. Samhain at the Crannog is a unique experience and sees visitors travelling from far and wide to attend; many of them year after year so don’t miss out on the last day of season.

To book your tickets, please email or call us on 01887 830583.