Many Celebrate Festivus with Feats of Strength and Airing of Grievances

Today, on December 23, many in our nation celebrate Festivus.

Really.

What started as a joke on a Seinfeld episode in 1997 is actually gaining traction as mini-holiday of sorts. Schools are not closed for Festivus, of course, and it is anything but a holy day. In fact, there is nothing holy about Festivus.

The whole point of Festivus, for those who celebrate it, is to just have a day of joy and pleasure without the commercialism and pressure that go along with it.

Depending upon perspective, Festivus is the brainchild of either Frank Costanza or Dan O'Keefe, the father of Seinfeld writer Daniel O'Keefe. Costanza, played by Jerry Stiller, introduced to the world his idea for a holiday different than Christmas.

In the episode entitled The Strike, Constanza memorably recalled buying a doll for his son George years earlier. He said, "Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reached for the last one they had, but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized, there had to be another way!"

As so many of the concepts on Seinfeld have, the Festivus theme has endured. People celebrate it in different ways, because the freedom to just, well, celebrate in any old way is one of the key tenets of Festivus. But there are traditions, even in Festivus celebrations.

Rather than a Christmas tree, for example, people gather around a bare aluminum pole, symbolic of a holiday without all of the trappings and ornaments. Festivus rituals include the "airing of grievances", where people share with one another their disappointments in each other. There is also the "Feat of Strength" ritual, in which people attempt to pin the head of the household.

Major cities in the country, including New York City, host Festivus celebrations. People gather to just celebrate before the obligations and formality of Christmas holidays themselves take hold.

Will the Festivus holiday endure, or will it begin to slowly fade from memory as the Seinfeld generation ages? Only time will tell, though, much like a third party candidate for president, the most likely outcome will be that the notion of Festivus will actually alter the celebration of Christmas, at least among those not strictly religious.

While it seems highly unlikely that anybody will ever pen a classic Festivus carol, and while there will likely never be Festivus specials on television, in many ways, that is exactly the point.

Happy Festivus, everyone.

Source:

http://www.festivusweb.com/