Arts & Crafts Workshop to Celebrate Spring

The Romanian Cultural Institute in London, together with the Embassy of Romania and the Embassy of the Republic of Moldova in UK are thrilled to announce a playful creative workshop dedicated to children in celebration of Mărțișor!

Join us on 24 February, for two hours, starting at 11 AM, for a delightful opportunity where children from our communities can craft their own Mărțișor symbols and learn about this beautiful tradition that heralds the beginning of spring. The workshop will be led by educators who teach Romanian Language, Culture, and Civilization courses in British schools, facilitated in the UK by the Romanian Language Institute.

Each child must be accompanied by an adult. To participate, please send us an email with your name and and your child/children's name(s) to:  events.london@mae.ro.

Access will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis due to limited availability.

Please note that photographs will be taken during the workshop and may be published afterward. By attending the event, individuals consent to the publication of images taken during the event.

The Mărțișor is a spring token, a tiny adornment tied with a red and white entwined cord presented on 1 March. It is  one of oldest Romanian traditions going back 8,000 years, when people use to presented each other red and white pebbles in a string. When the trees burst into bloom, the branches are decored with Mărțișor. These days, on 1 March, Romanians buy silky red-white threads tied into a bow to which a small trinket is attached and offer them to children and female family members, friends and colleagues to show friendship, respect or admiration.

Mărțișor is a custom which can be found in all areas where Romanians live, such as in the Republic of Moldova.  The key message is that nature ic coming back to life again or a fresh start of life. There are many legends in Moldova about Mărțișor, such as the one that Mărțisor is the Hero who set the sun free. The legend goes back to the first century – around year 106 B.C., when the Roman Empire conquered a part of Dacia, and is connected to a solar eclipse.