The Groundhog Day celebration is rooted in a Celtic superstition that says if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on Feb. 2, the Pagan holiday of Imbolc, winter will last another six weeks.

There is also the annual Marsden Jazz Festival each October and the Imbolc festival each winter, in which the triumph of the Green Man ( who represents the coming spring ), over Jack Frost ( the winter ) is celebrated with fire juggling and giant puppets.

Image: Imbolc battle Frost Green. jpg | Dramatised combat between the Green Man and Jack Frost at a community festival in Yorkshire

* Imbolc: February 2

Since Imbolc is immediately followed ( on 2 February ) by Candlemas ( Irish Lá Fhéile Muire na gCoinneal " feast day of Mary of the Candles ", Welsh Gŵyl Fair y Canhwyllau ), Irish imbolc is sometimes rendered as " Candlemas " in English translation ; e. g. iar n-imbulc, ba garb a ngeilt translated as " after Candlemas, rough was their herding ".

Neopagans usually celebrate Imbolc on 1 – 2 February in the northern hemisphere and 1 – 2 August in the southern hemisphere.

On the Wheel of the Year, it is opposite Imbolc, which is celebrated on February 2 in the northern hemisphere, and late July / early August in the southern hemisphere.

Winter ends and spring begins on Imbolc, or Candlemas, which is 1 or 2 February.

* February 1 – Imbolc, a cross-quarter day

* February 1 – Imbolc, a Cross-quarter day ( Celebrated on February 2 in some places ).

* February 1 – Imbolc, a Cross-quarter day ( Celebrated on February 2 in some places )

* February 1 – Imbolc ( Celebrated on February 2 in some places )

* Imbolc ( 1 February )

By the calendar, these dates usually fall around November 8 and February 4, the ancient Celtic festivals of Samhain and Imbolc.

The modern Sabbats that many Wiccans and Neo-Pagans now follow are: Imbolc ( February 2 ), Ostara ( Spring Equinox ), Beltane ( May 1 ), Litha ( Summer Solstice ), Lammas ( August 1 ), Mabon ( Autumn Equinox ), Samhain ( October 31 ) and Yule ( Winter Solstice ).

Similarly, according to the Celtic tradition, which is based solely on daylight and the strength of the noon sun, spring begins in early February ( near Imbolc or Candlemas ) and continues until early May ( Beltane ).

Her feast day is the 1st February, celebrated as St Brigid ’ s Day or Imbolc in Gaelic Ireland, one of the four quarter days of the pagan year, which marked the beginning of spring, lambing, and lactation in cattle.

Brigid's Day ( 1 February, known as Imbolc or Candlemas ) also does not have its origins in Christianity, being instead another religious observance superimposed at the beginning of spring.

At this mound, the passage is illuminated on the mornings of Samhain and Imbolc, at the beginning of November and February, respectively.

* In the neopagan wheel of the year August begins at or near Lughnasadh ( also known as Lammas ) in the northern hemisphere and Imbolc ( also known as Candlemas ) in the southern hemisphere.

Like other Wiccans, Dianics may form covens, attend festivals, celebrate the eight major Wiccan holidays, Samhain, Beltane, Imbolc ( or Imbolg ), Lammas, the solstices and equinoxes ( see Wheel of the Year ) and the Esbats, which are rituals usually held at the full moon or dark moon.

Other important dates for the Horned God include Imbolc when, according to Valiente, he leads a wild hunt.

Imbolc or Imbolg ( pronounced or ), also called Brighid's Day or St Brighid ’ s Day (,, ), is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of spring.

Reference to Imbolc is made in Irish mythology, in the Tochmarc Emire of the Ulster Cycle.

Imbolc was one of the four cross-quarter days referred to in Irish mythology, the others being Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain.

In the 20th century, Imbolc was resurrected as a religious festival in Neopaganism, specifically in Wicca, Neo-druidry and Celtic Reconstructionism.

In the Irish Neolithic period, the significance of the date of Imbolc has been suggested on the Newgrange UNESCO World Heritage website, based on the arrangement of a number of Megalithic monuments, such as the Mound of the Hostages at the Hill of Tara.

At this site in County Meath the inner chamber of the passage tomb is aligned with the rising sun on the dates of Imbolc and Samhain.

Evidence of how Imbolc was celebrated in Gaelic Ireland is found in medieval Irish texts that mention the festival, besides folklore collected during the 19th and early 20th century in rural Ireland and the Scottish Highlands.

Imbolc has been traditionally associated with the onset of lactation of ewes, soon to give birth to the spring lambs.

The Blackthorn is said to bloom at Imbolc.

Imbolc was traditionally a time of weather divination, and the old tradition of watching to see if serpents or badgers came from their winter dens may be a forerunner to the North American Groundhog Day.

Imbolc was believed to be the day the Cailleach — the hag of Gaelic tradition — gathers her firewood for the rest of the winter.

Legend has it that if she wishes to make the winter last a good while longer, she will make sure the weather on Imbolc is bright and sunny, so she can gather plenty of firewood.

Therefore, people would be relieved if Imbolc is a day of foul weather, as it means the Cailleach is asleep and winter is almost over.

On the Isle of Man, where she is known as Caillagh ny Groamagh, the Cailleach is said to have been seen on Imbolc in the form of a gigantic bird, carrying sticks in her beak.

Today, Imbolc is usually called Brighid's Day or Saint Brighid's Day.

One folk tradition that continues today on Brighid's Day ( or Imbolc ) is that of Brighid's Bed.

Brighid was said to walk the earth on Imbolc Eve.

Imbolc and Imbolc-based festivals are held by some Neopagans.

As there are many kinds of Neopaganism, their Imbolc celebrations can be very different despite the shared name.