The True History of Festivals
Festivus, sometimes referred to as “Seinfeld Festival,” is an annual December 23rd parody festival that was invented for The Strike, an episode of the 1997 NBC sitcom Seinfeld .
In the Seinfeld universe , Festivus was created by George Constance Frank’s father because he “hated all the commercial and religious aspects of the holidays.” You can stream Seinfeld on Netflix .
How to celebrate Festivalus
The Festivus dinner depicted on Seinfeld has four main components: the Festivus pole, resentment voices, feats of strength, and tape recording. There isn’t a lot of detail here, so feel free to embellish however you want.
Dinner at the festival
A closer look at the Seinfeld episode reveals that a traditional Festivus dinner consists of a roll served on a salad pillow, one bowl of peas, one bowl of mashed potatoes, and gravy in a gravy boat.
You should invite people you barely know, with whom you recently had funny or awkward interactions, such as nasty guys from the racetrack or someone you date who sometimes looks pretty and sometimes doesn’t. You will never see these people again, because they will be replaced by the guy who does strange things with his hand, or the lady who always wears pink.
Pole of festivals
The Festivus pillar is made of aluminum and cannot be decorated. According to Frank Costanza, the pole is made of aluminum due to its “high weight-to-strength ratio.” It is not decorated because the tinsel is distracting. And, why yes, you can buy the Festivus pole online .
Making complaints
From the show, complaints are being made by the patriarch of the family or the host of the Festivus dinner. Start by saying, “I have a lot of problems with you,” and then begin to voice those grievances by telling your guests about all the ways they have disappointed you over the year. Include everyone at the table. You don’t want anyone to feel left out.
Feats of strength
As with all Festivus traditions, feats of power are performed on guests by their host. In the series, it is offscreen wrestling between father and son. The Festivus dinner can’t end until someone is pinned down.
It is clear that feats of strength and the rest of Festivalus were created for Frank to traumatize and terrorize his family. This is troubling even in an artistic context. If you ever really celebrate Festivus, I hope your child wins the fight.
Record player
Celebrations of festivals must be recorded on tape so that the tapes can be used as display material for future episodes of your life’s sitcom.
Is Festivus a real holiday?
What’s real anyway? Festivus was invented for a TV show, but every year since 1997, people have celebrated it. And did not every holiday begin with the fact that someone came up with stupid traditions? So yeah, Virginia, there’s the Festivus.
Who Invented the Real Festivus?
Festivus was largely created by Seinfeld writer Dan O’Keefe, whose father actually invented a traumatic holiday called Festivus.
Unlike the television version, the O’Keeffe Festival was celebrated sporadically, with no specific date, and was not a pole or feat of strength. The “real” festival was thematic. For example, in 1977 the Festivus theme was “Are we de-repressed? Yes!”
Interestingly, the tape recorder was an important part of the actual celebration, and recordings of the O’Keefe family’s festival celebrations make up a large part of The Real Festivus: The True Story Behind America’s Favorite Made-up Holiday , a book written by O’Keeffe.
What does “festival for all of us” mean?
The phrase “Festivus for all of us” was coined by Father O’Keeffe. “The rest of us” refers to the family members left behind after his wife’s death, so “the rest of us” are alive. It’s a pretty dark holiday.