Hundreds of first-year students at the University of St Andrews in Scotland take part in Raisin Monday, a long-running tradition now centered on a shaving-foam fight. Students gather on St Salvator’s lower college lawn/quad and cover each other with foam at around 11am, using cans of shaving cream. Many wear elaborate fancy dress as they participate in the ritual.
The ceremony traces back more than 600 years, when new students would thank older students for mentoring by giving them a pound of raisins, which is how the event gets its name. In more recent decades, outlets report the raisins have effectively been replaced by shaving foam and costume play, though the purpose of acknowledging older students remains. Coverage from multiple outlets also notes that the event includes food donations alongside the foam fight, and that students dress up as a wide range of characters and themes as part of the day’s festivities.
