The Great Tree on the Square
A towering evergreen raised before the cathedral, hung with gilded apples, beeswax candles, and straw stars — the heart of the village Christmas.
Porta Christi Presents
Festivals of the Village
A living calendar of feasts, markets, and holy days — where the year is marked by bells, banners, and the turning of the seasons.
The First Feast · December
Christmas in the Square
When the first snow falls on the cobblestones, the village becomes a Christmas market. A great tree is raised before the cathedral, the workshops open their stalls, and the whole square glows with lantern light, carols, and the smell of spice and pine.
Click for 360° viewThe Christkindl Market
Stalls of carved nativities, beeswax tapers, spiced nuts, mulled cider, and hand-blown ornaments — the goods of the village workshops given for the season.
Ice on the Cobblestones
An open-air rink laid over the square, where families skate beneath strings of lantern light and the shadow of the spire.
Midnight Mass & Carols
The cathedral opens its doors at midnight. The choir sings the old carols, and the whole village gathers beneath the vault and the rose window.
The Procession · Late Spring
Corpus Christi in the Streets
When the earth is green and the plains are in flower, the village walks its Lord through the streets. Beneath an embroidered canopy, beneath the banners of Porta Christi, the whole village follows — petals strewn on the cobblestones, the cathedral drawing near, the bells answering the procession as it goes.
The Canopied Monstrance
Beneath a canopy of cloth-of-gold, the Blessed Sacrament is carried through the village — the high point of the feast and the heart of the procession.
Streets Strewn with Petals
Households rise early to scatter red, white, and yellow petals on the cobblestones — a carpet of color for the passage of the Lord.
The Banners of the Village
Crimson and navy banners bearing the Porta Christi lion hang from every timber frame — the standard of the village raised for its holiest walk.
The Festival Year
Feasts to Come
Christmas is only the first. Through the year the village marks the great feasts of the Church and the turning of the seasons — each a market, a Mass, a feast, and a celebration on the square.
SpringApril
Easter & the Octave
The great feast of the Resurrection opens the festival year. The square fills with lilies and candles; the bells of the cathedral ring at dawn; a feast-table is laid for the whole village.
SummerJune
Midsummer Revels
The longest day brings maypoles, morris dancers, and bonfires on the green. Garlands of green boughs deck the gates, and the taverns stay open until the last light fades from the sky.
AutumnSeptember
Harvest Home
Wheat sheaves, apples, and the first pressings of the new cider. The market square becomes a great barn for one night, and the village gives thanks for the fruit of the plains.
AutumnSeptember 29
Michaelmas
The feast of Saint Michael closes the harvest and opens the guild year. A goose is served, contracts are sealed, and the apprentices are named before the master craftsmen.
Come to the Feast
Gather with us under the banners
Festivals are when the village is most itself — open to guests, alive with music and craft, ordered toward worship. Sign up to be among the first to know when the gates open for a feast.