A kindergarten in Austria has announced that it will replace its popular St Martin's Day celebrations with a non-religious "Moon and Star" celebration to avoid offending the large migrant community.

Instead of the usual lantern parade in honour of St Martin, the kindergarten in St Polten will introduce a „Moon-Bear” figure to promote inclusion and empathy, RMX News reported.

In Austria, as in most European countries, the feast day of St Martin of Tours, the patron saint of soldiers, beggars and winemakers, is held on 11 November. He was a 4th-century Roman soldier who shared half of his cloak with a beggar, and the religious holiday in the Roman Catholic Church is a celebration of generosity and alms-giving.

According to the children’s parents, the renaming of the St Martin’s Day celebrations by the nursery school’s management is a move to marginalise Austrian and Christian traditions and risks undermining the cultural heritage they want to pass on to the next generation.

Politicians have also criticised the move, with local councillor Martin Antauer saying it shows contempt for Austrian customs.

„A moon and star festival instead of our lantern festival in honour of St Martin. This is how the St Martin legacy is being trampled underfoot,” he said, according to the Exxpress news portal, and underlined,

„We are certainly not willing to be ashamed of our traditions.”

Given the trends of recent years, it is not at all surprising that traditional European Christian holidays are being replaced by other celebrations in the name of inclusion and to avoid offending migrant communities at all costs.

Last year, in the spirit of diversity and respect for cultural differences, Saint Nicholas did not visit the kindergarten in the Austrian community of Plainfeld.

At the time, the authorities decided to keep him away from the children, as according to Austrian tradition Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus) traditionally wears a headdress with a prominently visible Christian symbol.

But the mayor of a Brussels quarter also had the bizarre idea of making Santa Claus more „Moroccan”, in view of the large Moroccan community living in the neighbourhood. He said he thought it would be fun to have a „Sidi Nicholas” who would give children clementines. The Moroccan town of Berkane is known for its clementine cultivation, and the word „Sidi” means „my lord” in Arabic.