Festivus Is A Secular Holiday Celebrated On December 23 As An Alternative To The Holiday Season.

Festivus is held on December 23 each year. In a 1997 episode of the popular television comedy, Seinfeld, Festivus was brought to the masses when Frank Costanza (played by Jerry Stiller) explained he invented Festivus in response to the commercialism of Christmas. Its slogan is “A Festivus for the rest of us.”

• 1966 – Seinfeld Scriptwriter Dan O’Keefe’s family had been celebrating their idea of Festivus since 1966.
  • TV Writer Dan O’Keefe’s father, Daniel O’Keefe, found a reference to an obscure holiday and celebrated it in 1966. At the time, he was researching his book “Stolen Lightning,” which explored astrology, cults, and paranormal activity.
• 1997 – The holiday became part of popular culture when it was introduced in a 1997 episode of the comedy sitcom Seinfeld.
• 2000 – Ben & Jerry’s debuted a limited-edition flavor called “Festivus: A Flavor for the Rest of Us,” which consisted of brown sugar cinnamon ice cream with gingerbread cookie chunks and a ginger caramel swirl.
• 2000 – a Pennsylvania brewery released a special-edition beer called Festivus, which is brewed with cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
• 2004 – TV writer Dan O’Keefe reveals that there are more peculiar traditions left out of the episode, such as using a tape recorder to record grievances.
• 2005 – In Pittsburgh, there has been a yearly Festivus celebration for the public since 2005.
• 2009 – Dan O’Keefe reveals that the Festivus catchphrase is meant as a reminder to look to the future in his family.
• 2010 – In 2010 and 2011, former Republican Congressman Eric Cantor of Virginia held Festivus-themed fundraisers.
• 2013 – The Florida Capitol building has a Festivus pole standing tall next to the Christmas tree. The pole is made out of empty Pabst Blue Ribbon cans. This happened in 2013, when Chaz Stevens petitioned to include a Festivus pole in the building alongside the Christmas tree.
• Festivus is a secular holiday celebrated on December 23 as an alternative to the holiday season. The name most likely is a combination of “Festive us”, you know, like “for the rest of us.”
• Festivus originated as a first-date anniversary – a celebration of O’Keefe’s parents’ first date.
• The holiday’s celebration, as shown on Seinfeld, includes a Festivus dinner, an aluminum “Festivus pole,” practices such as the “Airing of Grievances” and “Feats of Strength,” and labeling easily explainable events as “Festivus miracles.”
• Festivus traditions derived from the television episode and the original creator have been combined over the years.
• The Festivus pole is an unadorned aluminum pole displayed in the home. In the O’Keefe household, there was no Festivus pole; instead, a clock was placed in a bag and nailed to the wall.
• Although Festivus is one of the most enduring parts of a legendary sitcom, the scene where the Costanza family celebrates the holiday lasts just three minutes. However, as Armstrong revealed in Seinfeldia, this seemingly short portion of the episode took six hours to film because Stiller (who played Frank Costanza) had most of the lines and struggled to remember them.
• Festivus is an adjective meaning “excellent, jovial, and lively,” which in turn derives from Festus, which means “joyous; holiday; feast day”.
• Festivus dinner is served during the evening. Find “red” food such as spaghetti and meatballs or meatloaf. Traditionally, the meal should be rich and red.  Even spaghettios would work in a pinch.  Side dishes can include tuna on toast, turkey chili, airline peanuts, and pretzels.  The menu is not set in stone, but alcohol is recommended.
• The Airing of Grievances occurs during the Festivus dinner. Each person takes turns describing how the others have disappointed them over the past year.
• The #AiringofGrievances hashtag has been used to complain about various issues on social media.
• Feats of Strength follows dinner and involves wrestling the household head. The holiday is not complete unless the head of the household is pinned. Failure to pin the head of the household could result in perpetual Festivus.
• A Festivus Miracle is a frequent, unimpressive miracle. Carrying all the groceries into the house for Festivus Dinner without tripping or dropping one of the bags could be considered a Festivus Miracle.
• Google introduced a custom search result in 2012 for the term “Festivus” featuring an unadorned aluminum pole.

Sources:

National Day Calendar

Daily Holiday Blog

YouTube

Reader’s Digest

National Days Today

Days of the Year

National Today