How to Celebrate Festivus

Guide Note Festivus is a holiday that was featured on an episode of Seinfeld, based somewhat on the real life holiday invented by Dan O'Keefe, the father of the episode's co-writer. The episode introduced the holiday to the public and today Festivus is being celebrated all over the world. If you want to celebrate Festivus this year, then this page will help guide you through the traditions.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• The Festivus Pole
• Festivus Dinner and the Airing of Grievances
• Feats of Strength
• Other Festivus Traditions
• Conclusion
• References

Festivus Tips

1. Festivus is known as "a Festivus for the rest of us."
2. The holiday was introduced to the world in an episode of Seinfeld.
3. A Festivus Pole, made of aluminum, is the only decoration.
4. Dinner begins with the Airing of Grievances.
5. Festivus concludes with Feats of Strength.
6. The holiday ends when the head of the household has been pinned.

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• 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. ... [O]ut of that a new holiday was born: a Festivus for the rest of us! --Frank Costanza¹

Introduction

• 

  (Creative Commons photo by Mike Love)
  In an episode of Seinfeld titled "The Strike" the world was introduced to a holiday known as Festivus. According to the episode, Festivus is celebrated on December 23 and was created by Frank Costanza, George Costanza's father.² The episode aired on December 18, 1997, during Seinfeld's ninth season.³

• However, if you believed that Festivus was created for that episode, you're terribly mistaken. Festivus is based on a holiday created by one of the episode's co-writers, Dan O'Keefe. Seinfeld simply launched the holiday into the mainstream. Why is this important? Because the episode took some creative license with the original holiday created in 1966 by O'Keefe's father.⁴ According to O'Keefe, "Festivus was a celebration of my parents' first date" and "was very different from the TV holiday."^{5 6}

• However, since Festivus is a flexible holiday you are able to adapt the traditions to fit your own needs.⁶ Some of the major traditions that will be covered in this guide include:

1. A Festivus Pole
2. The Airing of Grievances
3. Feats of Strength.

The Festivus Pole

• [T]here's a pole. Requires no decoration. I find tinsel distracting. ... It's made from aluminum. Very high strength-to-weight ratio. --Frank Costanza¹

• The only decoration for Festivus is a metallic pole. The pole is not to be decorated, since it was chosen as a distinct protest against the commercialization of Christmas trees.⁷

1. Aluminum is the preferred pole type, because of its "high strength-to-weight ratio."⁸
2. Unlike Christmas trees, there are no stands made for Festivus poles. Instead, you can prop them up in a coffee can, pail of rocks or suspend them using fishing line.⁹
3. While many people choose to display them in their home, Festivus poles are also a commonly used to protest displays of religious symbols, especially in Wisconsin.¹⁰
4. Wisconsin is also where the only manufacturing plant for Festivus poles is located and is the only state that has a Festivus pole located in their museum.^{8 11} The honored pole was displayed at the Governor's residence during the 2005 Christmas season.¹¹
5. If you're a traditionalist, then you will need to replace your Festivus pole with a clock in a bag. According to Daniel O'Keefe, the pole was created for the show and a clock in a bag was the original Festivus decoration, although he does not know why.¹¹

• YouTube: A Festivus Pole for the Rest of Us! (Time: 2:18)

Festivus Dinner and the Airing of Grievances

• Welcome, newcomers. The tradition of Festivus begins with the airing of grievances. I got a lot of problems with you people, and now you're gonna hear about it! --Frank Costanza¹

• At Thanksgiving, everyone tells something they are thankful for. At New Year's, you make a list of resolutions. At Festivus, there is the Airing of Grievances.

1. The Airing of Grievances occurs before the Festivus dinner.¹²
2. During the event, everyone at the table has a chance to tell the others how they have disappointed them over the past year.¹²
3. Everyone should have a chance to speak before the dinner begins.¹³
4. Festivus dinner can be anything, as no specific foods are associated with the holiday.¹³ However, the dinner should consist of comfort foods.¹⁴
5. For those of you with quite a few grievances, you may want to make use of a list of grievances worksheet.¹⁵

Feats of Strength

• And now as Festivus rolls on, we come to the feats of strength. --Frank Costanza¹

• The last event of Festivus is the Feats of Strength. According to the episode, "Festivus is not over until the head of the household is wrestled to the floor and pinned."¹⁶

1. The head of the household chooses who will participate.¹⁶
2. Anyone chosen has the opportunity to decline if they have other plans, unless they are related to head of the household.¹⁶
3. Thumb wrestling and washer tossing are considered a suitable, and safer, Feats of Strength.¹⁷

Other Festivus Traditions

• As the Festivus holiday became more and more popular, it was inevitable that its traditions would expand into things such as carols, recipes and Miss Festivus pageants.¹⁸

• Festivus Gifts: Gifts for Festivus can be gag gifts or "donations" to The Human Fund.
  1. 

     (Creative Commons photo by Kimberly Vardeman)
     The typical Festivus gift consists of a card that reads, "A donation has been made in your name to the Human Fund."¹⁹
  2. The Human Fund was a charity, whose motto was "Money for people," made up by George.¹⁹ When George's boss discovers that the charity is made up, George uses Festivus as his reasoning for his lies.
  3. There is a real Human Fund, which supports arts education programs for children in Cleveland. Since it was created in 2005, it is obvious that the organization borrowed the name from the Seinfeld episode.²⁰
  4. Gag gifts are also appropriate since they were part of the original Festivus celebrations.⁵

• Festivus Parties: Many people opt to have Festivus parties that include the Airing of Grievances and Feats of Strength.²¹ Like the holiday, the parties should be centered around a minimalist approach.

• Festivus Themes: According to Daniel O'Keefe, the original Festivus celebrations usually centered around a theme. Themes included "Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?" and "Too easily made glad?"²¹

Conclusion

• Now that you've been introduced to Festivus, you will most likely want to find out more about the holiday. To do this, you will want to check out the only two books written about the holiday as well as the "The Strike" episode of Seinfeld (Season 9, Episode 10).

• Here are some sources for these items:
  • The Real Festivus by Daniel O'Keefe: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Product Search
  • Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us by Allen Salkin: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Product Search
  • Seinfeld Ninth Season DVDs: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Product Search

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References for How to Celebrate Festivus

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} festivusweb.com: Script of "The Strike" Episode
2. ↑ HowStuffWorks: Festivus Explained - The Origins of Festivus
3. ↑ TV.com: Seinfeld: The Strike
4. ↑ Google Book Search: The Real Festivus: The True Story
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} WashingtonPost.com: Have Yourself a Merry Little Festivus (November 26, 2006)  
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} JS Online: Our Day, Our Way (October 24, 2005)
7. ↑ festivusweb.com: The Festivus Pole
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} msnbc.com: Festivus Poles Now are for the Rest of Us (December 21, 2006)
9. ↑ Festivus: The Festivus Pole
10. ↑ FOXNews.com: Festivus Pole Proposed After Wisconsin City Displays Nativity (December 17, 2007)
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2} Wisconsin Historical Society: Governor Doyle's Festivus Pole
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} festivusweb.com: Festivus Airing of Grievances
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} HowStuffWorks: Festivus Explained - The Airing of Grievances
14. ↑ Madison.com: 'Seinfeld' Holiday Has a Highly Placed Fan (December 23, 2005)
15. ↑ Katharine Willis: Lists of Grievances Worksheet
16. ↑ ^{16.0 16.1 16.2} festivusweb.com: Festivus Feats of Strength
17. ↑ Festivus: Feats of Strength
18. ↑ LJWorld.com: A Festivus for the Rest of Us (December 18, 2005)
19. ↑ ^{19.0 19.1} HowStuffWorks: Festivus Explained - Festivus Today
20. ↑ The Human Fund: Our Mission
21. ↑ ^{21.0 21.1} The New York Times: Fooey to the World: Festivus Is Come (December 19, 2004)