Though the first official day of spring was more than a month ago—back on March 20—the season doesn’t really start at Haverford until Pinwheel Day. The enigmatic tradition of celebrating the first gloriously warm day of the season with pinwheels blanketing Founders Green is a welcome spring celebration that’s at least 20 years old. (In comments on our Pinwheel Day posts of years past we’ve had Fords from the ’80s and ’90s take credit for the phenomenon, but perhaps we’ll never know exactly who invented this beloved campus holiday.)
It’s a tradition as mysterious as its mechanics. Where do the pinwheels come from? Who puts them out on Founders Green in the dead of night? How is the “first nice spring day” chosen? Who knows? But what campus denizens do know is that nothing quite like the feeling of walking towards Founders Hall on a sunny spring morning and finding the lawn festooned with colorful pinwheels spinning in the breeze.
And that’s exactly what happened this morning. We expect a day full of lounging, sunbathing, eating, throwing Frisbees, playing music, enjoying a picnic, and much more on Founders Green.
Share your photos on social media using #pinwheelday.
