Students from St. Andrews University participate in the traditional Raisin Monday celebrations in St Andrews, Scotland November 21, 2011.
DAVID MOIR/REUTERS
DAVID MOIR/REUTERS
DAVID MOIR/REUTERS
DAVID MOIR/REUTERS
DAVID MOIR/REUTERS
For a place weighed down with as many traditions as St. Andrews, Raisin Weekend provides a lighter version of scholastic ritual.
The foam fight, which takes place on Monday, is the climax of the festival.
Each first year is dubbed an “academic child” and must seek out his or her own “academic mother” and “academic father” among older students.
Offenses committed during the festival have included theft, vandalism, and biting the heads off of live chickens.
In recent years, the city police have stepped up their presence at the event.
In response to threats of cancellation from the university administration, the student union pleads with participants: “Please don’t be the generation of students that killed Raisin Weekend.”
The origins of the event are shrouded in mystery.
