Michaelmas Festival of Courage 2026

October 1, 2026

Thank you to the festivals committee, faculty and staff, and our volunteers (parents, alum parents, and former faculty) for a wonderful Michaelmas Festival of Courage last Friday! The weather was beautiful, the pageant stirring, the challenge games exuberant, and the dragon bread delicious. We were thrilled to bring back a number of “feats of courage” that our students hadn’t seen since pre-COVID days.

Mr. Sage, Grade 5 Class Teacher, shared a message and a story with the crowd. From his speech:

In the world, we have our light bearers and we have our dragon slayers. They are two sides of the same coin. One focuses on watering what needs to grow. The other aims at killing what threatens growth. Both tell a tale of courage, but one alone begins and ends the journey in peace. One walks a path; the other worships it.

Most of us find our way through contrast, glimpses, hints; because the road to inner peace is reflected between the gauntlet of sympathy and antipathy.

In this way we require dragons to set our inner coordinates. This is why it is such an old tale, and dates back as far as ancient Sumer where Marduk is said to have slain Tiamat.

There were others:

  • Perseus slayed Cetus
  • Hercules slayed Hydra
  • Thor slayed Jormungandr
  • Indra slayed Vritra
  • George slayed the Dragon

The consensus is that it is an internal inventory to defeat apathy, with compassionate detachment. It is a call to rewrite that internal dialogue that misconstrues weaknesses and repackages them as strengths. It asks us to replace our fleeting desires with a healthy and disciplined habit life.

Enjoy these photos from the day!