Festivus 2010
It’s a Festivus for the rest of us. At least for today.
For all you non-Seinfeld fans, if you exist, Festivus is a secular holiday which is celebrated on December 23 as an alternative to the holiday season. Festivus is about staying away from commercialism.
And, of course, the holiday has a backstory.
Festivus was created by writer Dan O’Keefe and made popular by his son Daniel, a screenwriter for ‘Seinfeld’. Festivus shuns the traditional Christmas tree and instead is represented by an unadorned aluminum pole.
Festivus traditions include the ‘Airing of Grievances’ where you can tell all your loved ones how they have disappointed you over the past year.
‘The Feats of Strength’ involves a wrestling match and it is the concluding ritual of Festivus.
- Festivus.
It’s time to gather around an aluminum pole, tell your loved ones all the ways they have disappointed you, and wrestle the head of the household.
That’s right – it is ‘Festivus,’ the secular holiday first introduced into popular culture on the hit 1990′s TV show Seinfeld.
Festivus was actually practiced by former ‘Seinfeld’ writer Daniel O’Keefe’s family since the 1960′s and celebrated as a quirky household tradition every December 23rd.
In the 1997 ‘Seinfeld’ episode ‘The Strike’ character Frank Costanza tells Kramer that he invented the holiday when his children were young and he found himself in a department store tug of war with another Christmas shopper over a doll.
“As I reined blows upon him I realized there had to be a better way” – Frank says. So Frank coined the slogan “A Festivus for the rest of us.”
Festivus is about a lot of things – Seinfeld, a meal together with family, a holiday that requires no religion and an aluminum pole – but nothing defines the holiday so much as the airing of the grievances. Or as George Costanza’s father once said so eloquently: “I got a lot of problems with you people and now you’re gonna hear about ‘em.”
This year has been a banner year for problems, both personal and global. If I celebrated Festivus at home, I would probably be airing my grievances until Sunday morning. The idea is to let everyone at the dinner know just how much they have disappointed you over the year.
It’s actually a really healthy idea. Rather than the usual holiday routine of stifling anger and being forced to smile at people who make you insane, you get to tell them the truth, something few families actually manage during the year or on any other holiday.