[Xanth]

As you probably know, we have a new calendar set called Festivals & Celebrations. I've already added the Spring Festival, Xanthmas and Xanth Day, but I'd like to add more and that's where you come in.

In a setting as vast as ours, we should have more than these few holidays for our characters to celebrate. I'm not talking about ones we can have celebrate OOC (although those are definitely always fun!), but ones that are just a part of a character's life. Think about the holidays you celebrate, whether because of your religion (eg. Easter, Ramadan, etc) or your nationality (eg. Independence Day, Bonfire Night, etc), and how those celebrations bring communities together, and you'll see what I mean.

I want more of these for Elysia. I want things that individual communities can celebrate (eg. a harvest festival for farmers in Daire), that everyone can celebrate (eg. Creation Day for when Elysia was opened). Days to honour heroes, days to honour the dead or the living, naming days, war/peace anniversaries... and on and on.

So. What's this contest about? It's about you coming up with a festival or other celebration that we can add to the calendar and that our characters can talk about, avoid, hate or celebrate in their threads.

And who knows, some we might even celebrate ourselves! =D

To enter, please PM your entries to me by the 22nd. The winner will receive ζ100, and all approved entries will go up on the Festivals calendar.

[Xanth]

And with the deadline comes the entries. Please cast your votes before the 28th of February.

Catharsis

February 1st - 14th is the time of Catharsis, the "Days of Cleansing". This holiday is dedicated to the telling of confessions, ritual bathing, and the burning of excessive plant growth to allow for new. Love is created and celebrated. Members of nymph communities wash away their troubles with the spoken word as well as with water, soap, and scrubbing cloths.

It is a tradition for thoughtful gifts to be exchanged during the first, seventh, and fourteenth days of this holiday.

The first day of Catharsis is the "Day of Confessions", in which those who are smitten with another are to give the person of their affection a gift and share their feelings. Those who harbor ill emotions and are to confess give a gift as well, though theirs is meant to remind the recipient of the grudge the gift giver will afterward confess. Those who have lied to someone are to give a gift that reminds of what the lie was about before they too confess.

The seventh day of Catharsis is the "Day of Burning". The past is burned away to make room for a fresh future. Excess forest is burned by a carefully controlled fire. Afterward, the nymphs gather near the rich resulting soil and sing together to thank what was burned for returning to the earth, and to remind of the new life that would arise in their place. Afterward there is a feast and dancing, the latter is usually around a bonfire of some sort. It is before or after the dancing that the gifts are given, these usually being a handcrafted object in the colors of flame.

The fourteenth day of Catharsis is the "Day of Washing". The ashes of the past are washed away to allow for a bright tomorrow. The folk who celebrated the Day of Confessions together are expected to publically bath together in the nearest large body of water as a symbol of grievances forgiven and love being cherished. A gift on the Day of Washing can be anything that the person receiving it might enjoy, as long as some chiolen flowers are included.[/quote]

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Day of the Dead

An Anyeli festival to remember those who have died (originally only those killed by the war but later adapted to mourn all those loved and lost), the Day of the Dead is the one day of the year when all Anyeli lay down their arms and call a truce even during times of war.

In a complete reversal, Skotadi wear all white and Apali wear all black, with the women covering their faces with lace veils and the men theirs with leather masks as a way to remember the destruction on both sides and to represent the distance between life and death.

Perhaps deliberately, the Day of the Dead is celebrated on the same day as the winter solstice, bringing with it the symbolism of a month where most plants stop growing and most life goes into hibernation.

To honour the Living, a feast is held in the Great Hall of each town and fort across the Dusky and Apolli Mountains, followed by much dancing and merriment. Finally, at midnight, all those attending shuck off their costumes to reveal their true colours (with the Skotadi all in black and the Apali all in white) beneath, signifying the end of the truce and a return to normalcy.

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Harvest Moon Festival

The Harvest Moon Festival is celebration by farmers across Daire and the Nubian Delta on the day of the full moon nearest the autumnal equinox as a way to give thanks for the summer's bounty and to mourn the coming of winter.

As part of the celebrations, those who can manage it are expected to donate food to the poor during the two weeks either side of the Harvest Moon to help get them through the winter. Those who can but don't are considered selfish and as a result will be ostracised by their local community for the following winter so they'll be forced to manage alone; this is a grave punishment in smaller communities where neighbourly charity is vital for survival.

The main celebration is a feast that takes place on the day of the Harvest Moon, featuring foods from the crops just harvested. There is much music and merriment, and any locals with musical ability are asked to provide entertainment for the evening so others can dance.

[Xanth]

Hahar, we have a tie between Colleen's Catharsis and my Day of the Dead, but my poor Harvest Moon was left out in the cold! To break it, I used http://random.org, and our winner is

CATHARSIS!!!

Congratulations, Colleen and thank you for entering! Your ζ100 is winging its way to Phen's account shortly and I'll be putting the entries on the calendar this afternoon.

Thank you to everyone who voted, and look forward to another contest coming soon!