Slang dictionary
Festivus
摆听fes-tuh-vuhs ]
What does Festivus mean?
Festivus is the name of a secular and non-commercial holiday characterized by the raising of an aluminum pole, the serving of a dinner, the airing of grievances, and the demonstration of feats of strength.
Where does Festivus come from?
Festivus was popularized by the television show Seinfeld, in an episode that aired December 18, 1997, called “The Strike.” The episode follows the characters as they learn about and resurrect character Frank Costanza鈥檚 tradition of Festivus.
The holiday is based on a real tradition celebrated by the family of one of 厂别颈苍蹿别濒诲鈥檚 writers, according to a 2004 article in the New York Times. Invented by writer Daniel O鈥橩eefe鈥檚 father, Dan, this holiday dates back to 1966. The first Festivus was a celebration of when Dan first met his wife.
Our poked around the crawl space and found the pole. Stay tuned for airing of grievances and feats the strength. Let's rumble!
— Brantford Library (@BtfdLibrary)
Examples of Festivus
Who uses Festivus?
Festivus is characterized as being a holiday 鈥渇or the rest of us,鈥� and exists in contrast to the commercialism of Christmas. It consists of four major elements: the Festivus Pole, which is a simple aluminum pole with no adornments;聽the聽Airing of Grievances, which聽is when you tell gathered friends and family members how they have disappointed you since the last Festivus celebration; dinner (the famous Seinfeld episode shows the characters eating meatloaf on a bed of lettuce, mashed potatoes, and peas); and finally聽Feats of Strength,聽which is when participants wrestle the head of the household to the ground.
The holiday has been adopted beyond the O鈥橩eefes and the Costanzas, and is now celebrated by a small but a global audience. There is detailing how to celebrate it, a book about the story behind it by the holiday鈥檚 creator, and social media pages for participants to share stories of their festivities. Festivus poles can also now be purchased specially for the occasion. However, Festivus traditionalists feel that a pole made for this purpose is against the anti-commercialist spirit of the holiday.
Happy Festivus! We in have a TON of grievances this year, so crack out the pole, gather around and let it all out!
— Mara Jade 馃嚭馃嚫馃嚨馃嚪馃彸锔忊�嶐煂堭煂� #ProtectMueller (@MaraJade_2017)
Other terminology related to the holiday includes the Festivus miracle. This is a parody of the phrase a Christmas miracle. Usually, Festivus miracles are prosaic or underwhelming.
The Festivus games are a real-world athletic competition aimed at all ability levels with the slogan 鈥淔eats of Strength for the Rest of Us鈥� in reference to the Seinfeld episode.
With the win, the have now won five of their last six games on , including two straight against the
— Pelicans PR (@PelicansPR)
Happy festivus! Can鈥檛 wait to gather around the pole and partake in the annual airing of grievances 馃槅
— 馃枻馃幎馃帶 RK 馃帯鈾ワ笍馃嚭馃嚫 (@HeartEyes4Brady)
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of Festivus like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of Festivus that will help our users expand their word mastery.