This is a traditional spring festival and the most significant of pagan holidays, dedicated to fertility. Walpurgis Night is celebrated on the night from April 30 to May 1 in most of Central and Northern Europe, marking the blossoming of spring. The name Walpurgis Night is associated with the name of Saint Walpurga, a nun from Wimborne who came from England to Germany in 748 to establish a monastery. She died on February 25, 777, in Heidenheim. She became very popular and was soon venerated as a saint. In the Roman calendar of saints, her day is May 1. In the Middle Ages, there was a belief that Walpurgis Night was the night of the witches' revelry throughout Germany and Scandinavia. Witches rode broomsticks and gathered on mountain peaks, where they spent time in wild feasts, dances, and intercourse with demons and the devil. Thus, the evil force sought to hinder the happy course of spring, bringing curses upon people and livestock. Therefore, in villages on the eve of Walpurgis Night, a magical ceremony of expelling witches was held: bonfires were lit (on which sometimes witch effigies were burned), people walked around houses with torches, and church bells rang. And even today, on the night of May 1, many in European countries continue to celebrate this pagan holiday, welcoming the onset of warm spring. With the sunset, boys start shouting and setting off firecrackers. Because the best remedy against spirits is noise. In Scandinavia, bonfires are lit to attract spring, scare away spirits, and get rid of the accumulated winter trash. And they eat gravlax - fresh salmon marinated in salt, sugar, and dill. In the Czech Republic, on the eve of Walpurgis Night, sand or grass is placed on the threshold so that witches cannot enter the house until they count all the grains of sand or blades of grass. In Bavaria, jesters smear door handles with toothpaste, move doors elsewhere, and pull shoelaces out of shoes. The Finns believe that at midnight on the last day of April, there is not a single hilltop where witches and wizards have not sat. The collector of Russian folk tales, Alexander Afanasyev, wrote that Russians also had a belief that on this night witches gathered on Bald Mountain to report to Satan, and then participated in feasts and demonic dances. In our time, in Russia, this holiday is not very common, as it largely overlaps with the Old Slavic Day of Ivan Kupala. But some traditions still exist. For example, on Walpurgis Night, villagers and country dwellers burn the accumulated trash from the cold season. Others go for herb gathering, believing that herbs and plants picked on Walpurgis Night acquire magical power. In this sense, the holiday resembles the Old Slavic Day of Ivan Kupala, celebrated by Slavs, when it was also believed that gathered herbs became magical and protected against dark forces. Others prefer to write their most cherished wish on a piece of ribbon, which can be hung on a kind of "Maypole" or simply on a tree.