From Wikipedia: Festivus is a secular holiday celebrated on December 23 as an alternative to the pressures and commercialism of the Christmas season. Originally created by author Daniel O'Keefe, Festivus entered popular culture after it was made the focus of the 1997 Seinfeld episode "The Strike", which O'Keefe's son, Dan O'Keefe, co-wrote. The non-commercial holiday's celebration includes a Festivus dinner, an unadorned aluminum Festivus pole, practices such as the "Airing of Grievances" and "Feats of Strength", and the labeling of easily explainable events as "Festivus miracles."
Customary Practices
Airing of Grievances: Occurs during the Festivus meal and in which each person tells everyone else all the ways they have disappointed them over the past year.
Feats of Strength: After the meal they are performed, involving wrestling the head of the household to the floor, with the holiday ending only if the head of the household is pinned.
Festivus Pole: The aluminum pole was not part of the original O'Keefe family celebration. It was introduced in the Seinfeld episode by the character Frank Costanza and is unadorned as Frank "finds tinsel distracting."
Wider Adoption
Since the airing of the Seinfeld episode the holiday and gained worldwide fame:
- Allen Salkin's 2005 book Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us chronicles the early adoption of Festivus.
- During the Baltimore Ravens' playoff run in 2000 head coach Brian Billick superstitiously issued an organizational ban on the use of the word "playoffs" and instead substituted “Festivus” and referred to the Super Bowl as "Festivus Maximus".
- In 2005, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle was declared "Governor Festivus".
- In 2012 a Festivus Pole was erected on city property in Deerfield Beach, Florida, alongside religious-themed holiday displays. A similar Festivus Pole was displayed next to religious displays in the Wisconsin State Capitol, along with a banner provided by the Freedom From Religion Foundation advocating for the separation of government and religion. In 2013 a Festivus Pole of beer cans was erected next to a nativity scene and other religious holiday displays in the Florida State Capitol Building, as a protest supporting separation of church and state.
- In 2016, the Tampa Bay Times became the first newspaper to allow readers to submit Festivus grievances through its website.
