Festivus

Everyone likes to enjoy the holidays in their own special ways, but one holiday stands out more than the rest. Festivus, a holiday that seems like a joke but in all reality is a popular holiday growing through the masses in the United States and beyond!

How to Celebrate Festivus

Now, to celebrate Festivus it is actually quite simple to remember and even simpler to do. Festivus is celebrated as a holiday by those seeking to find an alternative to the commercialism and pressures that the Christmas holiday shopping can cause.

While the holiday of Festivus is easy to celebrate and easily remembered how to celebrate, there are a few things we need for the holiday.

Enjoy Some Wacky Festivus Traditions

In the episode of Seinfeld, they use an aluminum pole in place of a Christmas tree. The founders of the event, the O’Keefe family, had a tradition to put a clock in a bag and nail it to the wall.

Next is the dinner, which usually just consists of turkey, or in some cases, serving meatloaf on a bed of lettuce. Afterwards is the Airing of Grievances, where each person at the table stands up one at a time and tells the others what they dislike about them and then how the world has disappointed them that year.

Finally, comes the Feats of Strength which is celebrated immediately following the Festivus dinner. The head of the household selects one person at the Festivus celebration and challenges them to a wrestling match, and as Festivus tradition states, the Festivus holiday is not over until the head of the household is pinned by their opponent!

Avoid Commercialism

Of course, you don’t need to follow the traditional Festivus celebrations if you don’t want to. As Festivus Day is against the commercialism of Christmas and all of the pressures that come with this, you could focus on this notion when deciding how to celebrate this date.

Why not send a message to all of your friends to check in on how they’re doing? Let them know that they don’t have to worry about buying anything for you at Christmas or spending a lot of money, as that’s not what it is all about.

Join in on a Festivus Event

There are also a lot of events that take place on this day around the world. It is worth doing a quick search online to find out whether or not there is anything going on in your local area. For example, in Pittsburgh, there has been a yearly Festivus celebration for the public since 2005. This involves a number of holiday traditions, a Seinfield trivia competition, and live bands, so there is a lot of fun to be had!

If there is nothing taking place in your local area, you could take it upon yourself to host an event instead! Get some friends together and have fun on Festivus Day.

History of Festivus

One important episode of the 1990s sitcom, Seinfeld, refers to this day as “a Festivus for the rest of us”. This tongue-in-cheek holiday offers all sorts of reasons to laugh. “Festivus miracles” are events that are easy to explain. Rituals and practices include ridicularity such as “Feats of Strength” and “Airing of Grievances,” as well as an unadorned aluminium Festivus pole, and a Festivus dinner.

If you’re someone who doesn’t like the commercialism of the Christmas season, you are going to love Festivus! After all, there is no denying that a lot of us can feel under pressure during the festive period. It is the most expensive time of the year, and this can put a lot of financial strain on people. So, it’s great to have a day that is the opposite.

Those who are familiar with Seinfeld might assume that is where this day began. But its true roots go back a bit further. Festivus was actually created by the late author Daniel O’Keefe, an American writer who worked for the Reader’s Digest for over 30 years. He made up the holiday within his family all the way back in 1966.

But the growing popularity of Festivus is a bit of a family affair because it was Dan O’Keefe, Daniel’s son, who made the day popular by making it the focus of an episode of Seinfield in 1997. So, for anyone who really wants to celebrate this day the traditional day, make sure to get full inspiration from the episode that helped to make this day what it is!

While the holiday is extremely popular among people today, the first time Festivus was mentioned in American culture was in the episode of Seinfeld called “The Strike”, but there’s more to the name of Festivus than just a referenced television episode, right?

Indeed there is, because the word “festive” is derived from the Latin word “Festivus”. Sound familiar? It should. Festivus is an adjective meaning “excellent, jovial, and lively” which in turn derives from Festus, which means “joyous; holiday; feast day”.

Plus, it brings one to think, maybe Festivus is meant to prove that we as humans don’t need material objects to be happy on a holiday, but all we really need is excellent company, jovial attitudes, and lively music to make the holidays the best we could have.

Whether Festivus Day is a form of playful consumer resistance or a parody holiday festival, there is no denying that it is a lot of fun. Of course, it is perfect for anyone who is not a fan of Christmas and hates all of the commercialism that comes during December!