After the sparkle of the winter holidays, many look outward into gray. But as the days grow longer, the hint of warmth appears—and on the first weekend of February, Imbolc arrives.
The Celtic holiday of Imbolc (often pronounced im-bulk, ee-molc, or im-olk) marks the halfway point between the Winter Solstice (Yule) and Spring Equinox (Ostara). Literally translating to “in the belly” in Gaelic, it is the name of the holiday indigenous to the Celtic peoples across Ireland and Scotland. The holiday has its roots tied to livestock breeding, planting for the year’s harvest, and honoring Brigid, a queer goddess of healing, poetry, wisdom, and smithing—whose lore includes performing ritual abortions.
The advent of Christianity and the English colonization of Ireland and Scotland sanitized, spayed, and stripped the holiday of its ancient roots. The closest equivalent in the United States is Groundhog’s Day.
In other words, we replaced a goddess with a groundhog.
An act of reclamation—and reimagination
Since 2023, a network of artists, poets, organizers, and neighbors began to reclaim the holiday across homes, co-ops, small businesses, and nonprofit spaces in Detroit, Michigan. After the first dusk to dawn event in 2023, 16 more events have been held across 15 locations for Imbolc for nearly 1,000 people, transforming the holiday into a festival of art, music, poetry, and food.
Press
Art Detroit Now, 2025
Resident Advisor, 2025
Detour Detroit, 2024
Metro Times Detroit, 2024
Detroit Free Press, 2024
How you can join:
1. Join our celebrations every year in Detroit, Michigan.
2. Run your own event in your own city.
3. Celebrate Imbolc your own way with the helpful guide below.
How to celebrate
If you can’t attend any public events, you can celebrate Imbolc at home!
Often held the day between the winter solstice and spring equinox (usually the first weekend of February), Imbolc is a festival native to the Gaelic and Celtic peoples across Ireland and Scotland. It is one of the four fire festivals that mark the passing of the seasons—one of which includes Halloween, or Samhain—as the year progresses.
While traditions across Pagan, Neo-Pagan, Druidism, and other belief systems vary, it’s often agreed upon that the event marks the early start of spring. Armed with an intimate knowledge of animal and plant cycles, early Imbolc celebrators likely used the festival to demarcate the ideal time for planting seeds, breeding livestock, and preparing food for the year. Whether you’re a follower of these belief systems or not, it’s a perfect excuse to bring friends and family together during the cold months.
Some ideas to celebrate include:
- Light candles near each of your home’s windows to welcome the sun’s warm return.
- Make a traditional Brigid’s cross with reeds or other forms of greenery.
- Host a potluck for 20 people and screen a friend’s film.
- Plan a night of reading or speaking poetry with your friends, book club, or roommates.
- Imbolc often celebrates dairy; make a warm stew or chowder and drop it off to neighbors.
- Learn more about Brigid, and reflect on how you can celebrate spring.
- Use this guide to craft your own moment of reflection.
The team behind Imbolc Detroit
Daniel Sharp (b. 1994) is a Detroit-based artist, musician, writer, and interdisciplinary organizer. The majority of their work deals with deterioration, social patterns, public policy, and techno. His music practice via the moniker Endash explores loss, landscape, memory, and science fiction, and has released three EPs and a full length record. His visual and music work has been seen at the Mike Kelley Homestead, Detroit; PLAYGROUND, Detroit; Basilica Soundscape, Hudson; GOODNEWS, Brooklyn; The Works, Detroit; Bossa Nova Civic Club, Brooklyn; The Lot Radio, Brooklyn; the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; FoolMoon, Ann Arbor; WCBN, Ann Arbor; WNYU, New York; and Magick City, Brooklyn. They have spoken widely about their visual, music, and consulting work across universities and organizations, including Creative Capital; the Kresge Foundation; Chautauqua Visual Arts; Brown University; The Dutch Art Institute; University of California, Berkeley; Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA); and Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD). Their work has been published in NYFA, The Creative Independent, Testudo, Kickstarter, Primary VC, and Substack, among others. Sharp is a NEW INC and Tech Town Detroit Mentor.
King Sophia is a multidisciplinary storyteller and world-builder. Classically trained with a degree from Frost School of Music - University of Miami, King Sophia's cellistic and compositional skills are their main processors for the world around them. They’re also an electric guitarist, vocalist, conductor, educator, disc jockey and poet. As a versatile creator with roots in many genres from blues to bossa nova to avant-garde, King Sophia is known for their multidisciplinary explorations of strategic resistance and radical joy. King is especially known for their live arranging and live composing — what others call ‘improvisation.’ Each new creation is grounded in their identities of Black Indigenous Queerness and a desire to preserve, showcase, and build upon non-hegemonic music history. Using these core cultural threads as a foundation for their practices, King Sophia explores art and intention through a holistic lens to concoct sonic experiences that motivate, illuminate, alleviate, and empower.
Otodojo (Maro Kariya, PhD) is a Detroit-based audiovisual artist who wishes to use multimedia to connect and motivate people towards changing systems that threaten environments. They weave together sonic stories through field and object recordings, processed vocals, contact-miked materials, and layers of synthetic sounds inspired by the natural world and imagined bio-cybernetic futures. Their music has been released with labels such as Acid Camp, Mesma, Perimeter Junk, Qeone, Unimatrix Zero, and their album ‘Amphibious / Aural Spirits’ on The Bunker NY has been named one of the best albums of 2023 by MixMag. In 2018, they launched ‘Microtones’ (microtones.info), an electronic music collective in Ithaca, NY which aims to help community building through music.
devon parrott (fka purefastmoods) is a spiritual guide, advisor, artist, musician, dancer, and curator. Their work has that unmistakeable, tactile craft of care for the people, places, and identities of the Midwest. Some have said purefastmoods is their favorite DJ’s favorite artist; others call them the patron saint of the dancefloor.
Christine Kanownik is a Detroit-based poet. She is the author of the poetry collections HEAD (Trembling Pillow Press, 2019), KING OF PAIN (Monk Books 2016), and the chapbook We Are Now Beginning to Act Wildly (Diez Press, 2012). Her poetry has appeared in FENCE, Diagram, Cosmonaut Avenue, jubilat, and elsewhere. Kanownik has been the recipient of grants and residencies from the Congress Theatre, the University of Chicago, and others. They organize FIELD TRIP, a reading series based in Hamtramck, Michigan. Each trip features a visiting writer paired with local Detroit talent.
Brett Cimbalik is a Detroit-based multi-instrumentalist and one half of the electronic duo Super Public. They have released on Chambray Records, including the LP Sunrider with Brad Fritcher along with several EPs and remixes.
Rachel Hays is the founder of Taxonomy Press, a Detroit-based risograph micropress. They print Floral Observer, a quarterly publication where local, regional, and global artists, writers, and organizers write recipes, op-eds, interviews, and more on nature.
Alex DePorre is the editor of Woodbridge Zine (2022), a 63-page zine that published deep winter and COVID-19 reflections and creative media from artists, poets, and more who lived in the Woodbridge neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan.
Meg S is a Chicago-born, Detroit-based integrative change worker. She is the founder of Megan Szurgot Coaching, a life and empowerment coaching consultancy that uses the latest in neuroscience and nervous system regulation.
Farah Sattar is a first-generation Bangladeshi-American chef, engineer, researcher, educator, and writer. Their work and research aim to examine existing technologies and explore alternative futures. They are the host of Dawat, a supper club in Detroit, Michigan that serves monthly 30+ seated dinners with an emphasis on South Asian food.
Catie Goins (fka badgirlsclubjpg) is the host of Vision Board Night, a free and all ages roaming vision board event series across local businesses and nonprofits in Detroit and Hamtramck, Michigan.
Immaculate Conception is an interdisciplinary arts & music collective that centers the creativity of women and gender non-conforming people, celebrating the feminine in all its forms. Entirely DIY and run as a passion project, Immaculate focuses mainly on the world of electronic music and its related art forms. Founded in 2023 by Paloma Calvin and Dimitra Colovos, the collective aims to make the electronic sphere more accessible.
Matthew Shur is a breathwork and tantra practitioner, sex and intimacy coach, and avid gardener based in Detroit, MI. He coaches adult film performers on set worldwide on how to embody consent, connect with their authentic pleasure, and communicate effectively.
Dr Simon Gregor is a British-born, Detroit-based meditation teacher, Reiki practitioner and explorer of Taoism, now based in Detroit. He is also a poet, and loves to explore how language can help shape meaningful ritual.