St Andrews Raisin Monday: Watch students take part in first freshers traditional festivities since lockdown

A messy foam fight erupted at the University of St Andrews as hundreds of freshers and other students took part in Raisin Monday – the first since the pandemic began.

The age-old tradition at one of Scotland’s oldest universities saw hundreds of students take part in a mass foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn in St Andrews.

The day marked the end of a weekend of festivities to thank their senior students, or "parents", for mentoring them.

The first-year "children" were given fancy dress costumes to wear to descend on St Salvator's Quad for the giant shaving foam fight.

University students take part in The annual Raisin Monday foam fight at the University of St Andrews (Photo: Lisa Ferguson).

It was the first Raisin Monday since the pandemic began almost two years ago.

Due to Covid restrictions, two foam fights took place on Monday – one at 10.30 am for 2021 freshers and an additional foam fight at 12.30pm for students who joined the university in 2020.

Ahead of the celebrations, the university emailed all students encouraging them to enjoy themselves but to behave.

Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife (Photo: Lisa Ferguson).

Professor Clare Peddie, vice-principal education (Proctor), said: “In previous years we have had a good Raisin Sunday on the whole.

“However, a few of our students did place themselves and others in serious danger due to the effects of alcohol.

“We also saw a number of incidents involving noise nuisance and degrading conduct around the town.

“We regard public misconduct, annoyance to neighbours and visitors, hazing and abuse of alcohol as completely unacceptable.”

Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife (Photo: Lisa Ferguson).

She added: “You are a representative of the University and we expect responsible and considerate behaviour from all our students at all times.

“This weekend may be busier than usual due to school half term holidays, so you will be sharing our streets with residents and visitors, including families with young children.”

The vice principal also reminded students to be aware of the strains on NHS services and “behave in ways that do not add to these pressures.”

The university said it expected the numbers of police officers on duty to be significant.

Prof Peddie added: “Any anti-social behaviour will be met by a very firm response: this is fully supported by the university and the Students’ Association. Where appropriate, university disciplinary processes will follow any reports we receive from the police.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.