Wellspringtide Festival
The Springtide, the awakening of the world after the long and deep sleep of winter, is a time of great excitement and preparation. During the final months of winter, farmers have been preparing their tools; sharpening spades, scythes, and knives in eager preparation. And now the winter is gone and everything green and tender is growing.
The Wellspringtide Festival arrives with the coming of the essosme, the midpoint between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. It officially commences as soon as stargazers catch sight of the Soldier beginning to make his way beyond the horizon. Flowers, fruits, and vegetables have been growing and thriving for a while in the temperate latitudes, and a bountiful harvest is ready to be shared.
The Festival begins with the harvesting of the flowers. These flowers are either cut or carefully transplanted into light and transportable containers (if they weren't grown in a container already), before they are brought to the festival grounds and marketplaces where the celebrations are going to be held. The flowers are an extremely important symbol of the festival, their bright colours a balm and uplifter of the soul in the face of looming summertime when temperatures will rise and make work in the fields miserable.
A day after the flowers are transplanted and checked for transplant-shock, the celebrations officially commence. When the sundial shows that the hour is Norzan, the leader of the settlement where the festival is being held opens the day of festivities with a speech about surviving another winter, how bountiful the flowers, fruits, and vegetables have been so far, and what the chosen "colour of the year" is (a colour chosen by a vote held a month or so earlier). The speaker then finishes his/her speech with well-wishes, an oath to the Creator and to the promise of a better future or continuance of the good fortune they have been having (depends on how it has been going lately).
The Wellspringtide Festival is a highly-anticipated event that is seen as a gate opening to the rest of the year, and the excitement is enough to draw even the most reserved and introverted of people out to have fun and admire the bright colours and fresh food.
History
The Wellspringtide festival is a relatively new festival, one that is based upon an older one—the Bountiful Springtide Festival—which had stopped during the Epoch of Grief when The Sorcerer Queen replaced it with a festival which venerated her—the Spring Queen Festival.
When King Rymhûl was crowned, one of the first things brought to his attention was the need to revert all of the festivals that the Sorcerer Queen had corrupted to what they had been before, or to establish new ones in order to wash away the painful memories. The newly-crowned king knew that he would have to consult the people in order to not upset them, so after sending out polls to every settlement across Talnor and hearing back about the peoples' ideas and wants, Rymhûl decreed a new spring festival that would brighten the spring months: the Wellspringtide Festival.
The Zirynavin have been a great help in shaping and cultivating the festival, and are often the biggest suppliers of flowers and other luscious foliage that is often on display during the festival.
The Wellspringtide Festival has been on-going for as long as the land has been named Talnor, starting in the spring that came right after the king's new year coronation. And it has been celebrated every spring since with no hesitation.
Components and tools
As a festival, Wellspringtide is stuffed full of many fun and enjoyable activities and delicious food. Every day begins with a wonderful breakfast feast, called the "Breaking of the Springfast"—this allows the cooks and their helpers a chance to enjoy the festival once the dishes and the eating area is cleaned up.
As soon as the feast is over, long and strong ribbons in light lavender purple, butter yellow, and light cherry blossom pink are strung onto the top of a long pole crowned with bright and cheerful flowers before the pole is stood up and inserted into the pre-dug hole that is usually located in a central square of the settlement. This is the "Flower Pole", and it is the focal point of one of the most memorable activities of the festival, as well as a wonderful decoration as the ribbons dance gently in the breeze. Four sets of three ribbons hang from the pole, one set from each corner of the square, flower-crowned platform on the top, and these ribbons are used in the intense, but short, competitions where four contestants race to be the first to finish braid the length of the ribbons. Winners receive a gorgeous, hand-made pin.
Another activity looked forward to with the arrival of the festival are long, drawn-out Falling Tiles tournaments, played with custom, Wellspringtide-themed tiles. These tournaments usually begin right after the feast is over.
The greatest component of the festival is its market. With the festival usually being held near or in marketplaces, rows upon rows of market stalls laden down with flowers of almost every kind are opened after the morning's breakfeast, offering everything from useful tools for gardening and farming, treats and sweets, toys, and even more flowers.
Wellspringtide Ribbon Braiding by M.R.R. Shelswell
Observance
The Wellspringtide Festival begins when the constellation named "the Soldier" begins to disappear below the horizon. This happens halfway between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice (a time referred to as the Essome, or the "mid-way sun" in Late Mainirri) around mid-Iskera. It is alway observed in Iskera in the temperate and warmer latitudes, but in the more northernly locales, such as The Armlands, and the Taenorharan settlement of Mîllagec, they are unable to celebrate until mid to late Hinuirûn, or even early Wenemkan if the weather turns out to be particularly foul-tempered that year.
Primary Related Location
Important Locations
Related Organizations
Related Ethnicities
This is a great festivities; I love that it comes in the middle of spring, and I would want to enjoy all of the food that was available. The king invented a holiday based on a vote to replace old memories with new ones, taking into consideration his people's preferences is cool. This is an awesome article.
Thanks so much for the comment <3 I had a lot of fun with this article and how this festival would fit in. There really should be a mid-spring festival like thin in real life imo.