Harvest Festivals of Crowald

In Crowald the harvest festival does not have a deeper meaning or tradition behind it. It simply is a good reason to consume the remaining fresh vegetables and herbs before the first frost kills the plants. A joyous excuse to enjoy the weeks before the remorseless winter and have fun.
The countless sausage-artisans use everything that is fresh to make the best produce, and during the harvest festival food is cooked in excess. Blood-sausages, sausages, ribs, cuts, everything smoked. Rich broths from bones and intestines. Mushrooms and herbs are one of the main staples during the harvest festivals as it is the last chance to have them fresh. Everything is brought together by steaming hot dumplings of various fresh fillings.
The dwarves always unveil new batches of their ales, competing alongside with the sausage artisans who had made the best products. One of the few traditions for the harvest festival is that all the residents bring food and drink instead of paying with money. There often is more than enough to feed any curious tourists or resident that happens to bump on one of the bountiful tables of harvest festivals.
The harvest festival is used to measure who makes the best sausage and ale, while there is no prize, the winners usually sell all their produce during the early months of winter for a good margin. The ability to sell all the produce is a huge boon for any business as usually the fresher produce is always more expensive than the older one.
Some people enter Crowald solely for the Harvest Festival and spend a few days in the county before returning back. The harvest festival could also be considered as a public holiday for most of the citizens, as the dwarves take a rare break from work and focus on drinking and eating. If it was not for the festival, people could notice that the occasional hiccups in the city infrastructure due to having no sober dwarves to operate and maintain the magitech gear. Usually there are no accidents as dwarves tend to excessively oil all the cogs and crooks on any critical equipment just before the harvest festivals. During years when the winter arrives late, this has caused accidents, followed by reprimands.
In essence, the Harvest Festivals of Crowald are no single instance or event. Rather they are small feasts and parties that happen all over the city in various districts, often organized a day or two before. As tradition dictates, they last until the first snow. House of Acedia also organizes a banquet in The Snowcrow Palace for local nobility from surrounding counties during the Harvest Festivals, allowing the guests to sample the local cuisine of Crowald during its peak.
For tourists, arriving late autumn, there is a special tax, they need to pay in order to enter the city in order to curb travelers from arriving only for the free-dining.
When winter finally comes, the citizens often talk about the events that happened during the harvest festivals. These warm and vibrant memories allow them to push through the harder times, until spring arrives again. People often say the best part of the Crowald Harvest Festivals is that you never know when they end, and it doesn't matter. What is important is to end the season with a bang.

Tax Cuts during the Harvest Festivals

In the spirit of the Harvest Festivals, House of Acedia has not collected any taxes during the autumn and instead it has been customary for the people in Crowald to send tributes to The Snowcrow Palace in form of best foods and ales. This is likely one of the contributors as to why there have never been any revolts or uprisings in the county.