On Thursday evening kids all over Luxembourg wandered the streets with lanterns to chase evil spirits away and, more importantly, get sweets.

The old tradition of Liichtmëssdag (Candlemas day) on 2 February is celebrated in Luxembourg by children going from house to house with their lanterns and asking for sweets.

They sing one or two tunes to the residents, who then offer sweets in return. The song most traditionally associated with Liichtmëssdag has the opening lines: “Léiwer Herrgottsblieschen, gëff eis Speck an Ierbessen, een Pond, zwee Pond, dat anert Joer da gidd der gesond, da gidd der gesond” (Dear God, give us bacon and peas, one pound, two pounds, next year you will be healthy, you will be healthy). But nowadays kids have learned other, more modern songs.

In Bonnevoie, a group of seven or eight kids, along with the parents, were giddy with excitement, even though they had been knocking on doors for over two hours: “We have been walking around for very long, since 4 o’clock. We have been to many, many houses. It’s so much fun!”

They were talking over each other eagerly to tell what they liked about it:” We like Liichtmessdag because we get sweets and we can make lanterns! We made these lanterns at school.” A girl quipped: “I made one lantern at school and one at home.”

A boy didn’t want to seem less enthusiastic: “Me too!” Asked whether they had gotten a good booty, a boy calmly estimated: “I got approximately one or two kilos of sweets. It is heavy!” One girl said she would eat everything at once, but another said that “I will keep some for every day!”

The parents were as happy as the kids, but said they would wrap it up soon and take their candy and their kids home.