St. Martin's Day St. Martin's Day Saint Martin's day, also known as the Feast of Saint Martin, Martinstag or Martinmas, as well as Old Halloween and Old Hallowmas Eve, is the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours (Martin le Miséricordieux) and is celebrated on November 11 each year. This is the time when autumn wheat seeding was completed, and the annual slaughter of fattened cattle produced "Martinmas beef". Historically, hiring fairs were held where farm laborers would seek new posts. Saint Martin of Tours was a Roman soldier who was baptised as an adult and became a bishop in a French town.
St. Knut's Day tradition is still kept alive in areas of Satakunta, Southwest Finland and Ostrobothnia. However, nowadays the character is usually played by children and now involves a happy encounter. A dialectical proverb from Noormarkku says: "Hyvä Tuomas joulun tua, paha Knuuti poijes viä" or "Good [St.] Thomas brings Christmas, evil Knut takes [it] away." In Sweden St. Knut's Day marks the end of the Christmas and holiday season. It is celebrated by taking out the Christmas tree and dancing around it. Nowadays, the feast is mainly for children. St. Knut's Day Tjugondag jul ("Twentieth Day Yule"), or Tjugondag Knut ("Twentieth Day