Festivus
Festivus was a fictional holiday created by Frank Costanza (played by Jerry Stiller) on the popular American television comedy Seinfeld. Some fans of the show now celebrate this fictional holiday in real life.Festivus is a holiday held on 23 December of each year. It was created as a response to the commercialism of the other December holidays. Its slogan is "A Festivus for the rest of us".
The Festivus celebration includes three major components:
- The Festivus Pole - display of an unadorned aluminum pole, apparently in opposition to the commercialization of the decorated Christmas trees and because the holiday's creator, Frank Costanza "finds tinsel distracting".
- The Airing of Grievances - where the celebrant tells their friends and family all of the instances where they disappointed the celebrant that year.
- The Feats of Strength - where the head of the family tests their strength against one participant. Festivus is not considered over until the head of the family has been pinned. A participant is allowed to decline to attempt to pin the head of the family only if they have something better to do instead.
Other References
Presumably unaware of the irony, the Brisbane Marketing organisation has adopted the name Festivus to refer to its summer holidays programme of events in Brisbane.