Every February 2nd, Americans eagerly await the groundhog: will the sleepy rodent’s appearance herald the arrival of spring…or foretell another six weeks of winter?

Groundhog Day has its origins in a Christian festival called Candlemas , which is traditionally celebrated on or around February 2nd. A European tradition stated that a sunny Candlemas meant an additional six weeks of winter weather, while a cloudy Candlemas signaled an early spring. According to German folklore, the matter was clinched by the appearance of a hedgehog: if the sight of his own shadow frightened the shy creature back into hibernation, Candlemas was officially “sunny.”

Because hedgehogs are not indigenous to North America, early German settlers adopted the groundhog, or woodchuck, as their weather predictor. In 1887, a newspaper editor named Clymer H. Freas along with a newspaper publisher and American Congressman named W. Smith organized a Groundhog Day festival in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. The festival’s mascot, a groundhog dubbed Punxsutawney Phil, “told” the Groundhog Club president his prediction regarding winter’s end. On that historic morning, Phil saw his shadow at 7:32.

Now an annual event, the festival continues to be popular, inspiring films, fiction and other events and festivals around the country. Even Canada is in on the fun – our neighbors to the North look to “Wiarton Willy” to predict the arrival of spring.