Festivus Date: December 23, 2009
Festivus Day is celebrated
but in the minds and hearts of Seinfield fans.nowhere
There are several one-off festivals and holidays that are celebrated by people all over the world. One among these is the festival of Festivus. The event itself was primarily invented only in the early 1960’s. The festival had its beginnings in 1964 in the United States, when Dan O’Keefe, whose son later went on to become the script writer for the cult Seinfeld series, went on a date with his future wife for the first time, Deborah.
Festivus Day History
The holiday is believed to fall on 23rd of December. The popularity of this holiday is where all the surprise lies in however. As mentioned earlier, Dan O’Keefe’s son Daniel who later became the script writer for the popular sit-com Seinfeld is the one who should be given all the credit for popularizing this lesser known festival. It is with the popularity of Seinfeld that the celebration of Festivus grew in importance.
The celebration of Festivus gains even more impetus and interest when one gets to know the nature of Seinfeld. The show which had its roots in the American comedy industry, soon gained cult status amongst its fans. In one particular episode titled “The Strike”, the festival of Festivus first makes its appearance. In the show, where it is compared with its likeness to Christmas and other popular festivals the world over, it is described as a festival for the rest of the people, the ones who do not spend time celebrating more popular festivals like Christmas and the kind.
Festivus Day Traditions and Activities
The main reason for such a festival seems to have arisen from the fact that there is not much expenditure involved in its celebration, unlike a festival such as Christmas where sharing of gifts and other items involving monetary possessions are involved. The celebration of Festivus is carried out with an Airing of grievances, an unusual practice where members of a particular group talk about what they found unhappy or disappointing about the members of the rest of the group.
Part of the celebrations also involves a Festivus dinner, a sumptuous meal for the family or group, one would assume. The nature of this festival may appear unique to many, but to some, the seriousness of the festival can be as much as celebrating say, Christmas. Although the festival does seem to be superficial, it actually has good core values to support it. The fact that there is not much financial spending required to be able to celebrate such a festival and with the backing of Seinfeld, Festivus has been embraced by many as an alternative to Christmas.
Interesting fact about Festivus:
Another strange and novel practice that finds pride of place during the times of Festivus is the “Feats of Strength” event, where the opponent has to pin down the head of the household. The festival is said to be only complete when the opponent completely downs the head of the household. There are also funny instances where people actually use a plain pole much in likeness to the use of a Christmas tree.
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