Southern Mark Ship Festival

Southern Mark Ship festival is a huge celebration that is held once a year along the southwest coast of Owhua. This festival starts when the constellation called Southern Mark Ship fully appears on the mid-line of the horizon and is celebrated for a month. There are four stars that make up the Southern Mark Ship. Three stars make a triangle with the fourth above giving impression of a ship or an arrow.
The three weeks before the festival starts all the coastal towns are busy preparing for it. The bakers spend days make treats and festival breads. Many traders come in as different places stock up on supplies, from food, spices, to decorations. Festival clothing is made along with many trinkets. Many children spend this time making boats out of what ever material that they can find.
The Southern Mark Ship festival starts in the evening and the towns along the Owhua south west coast become alive with activity. Each evening an hour after sunset the towns celebrate until the sun rise. There are many activities such as dances, games, puppet shows, large theatrical performances, story tellers and lots of music. Many of the songs, puppet shows, theatric performances and story tellers tell of Ewert and Claudine and their adventures. There are also many tales of why the the Marked Sly island is surrounded in clouds for most of the year. In one small village close to the island has a religion that Marked Sly is where their god resides and that twice a year they allow the see their home.
During the day everyone sleeps until late afternoon then they get up and get ready for the next night of celebrations. However on the last night of the festival around mid-night everyone gathers to be either on the beaches or a place overlooking the sea. Then about an half an hour later on the horizon appears the mystical island Marked Sly appears with the Southern Mark Ship constellation pointing to the island. The island stays visible until the next sunset when the clouds cover the island once again.
Once the island is visible in the one small village that believes that it is the home of their god they place a wreath of flowers with small trinkets attached out to sea towards the island.
After Mark Sly appears the festival ends and everyone heads to bed. The next morning they start the clean up of the festival and return to their normal lives, until the festival comes around again the following year.