Festivals of Arts

For those of us that follow the God of Music, attending one of these festivals is our pilgrimage. Amongst all the people we find kindred souls that find the heart of the world in creation, the making of expressions with our own hands. For me, the culmination of the experience is meeting these people and sharing my art, giving them a little of the feeling I have when I create.

All festivals happen in summer when the warm air entices people to join and mingle, coming with creation or just to share in the joy that is the various arts. Each one is different depending on the city but all is open air, only enclosed by the canopies built to house the plays that mark the beginnings of these festivals. All are welcome, all art is welcome. Nothing is turned away in the name of Sotark.

— Unknown, Follower of Sotark

Festivals of Arts are yearly festivals held throughout Isekai that celebrate a wide variety of art forms in the name of Sotark, the God of Music. Often held in the summer, these festivals are held in large cities and can last days or weeks depending on the group organizing the festival. These are extremely popular events in which to become involved in a type of art or to sell one's creations.

Celebrating All Things Art

Illustrated Music

Illustrated Music by Image via Midjourney, created by Riverfang

In honor of Sotark, special music is often created during the Festivals of Arts to be played and shared across the world. These musical staffs, known as Illustrated Music, often take hours or days to create due to the delicate artwork and magic that can be imbued in the piece.

While hailed as the God of Music, Sotark is seen as a patron of the arts and is often associated with any type of art. This allows for all artists, no matter their medium to gather together and celebrate each other with no need for bias or other negative feelings. Certain types of art may be more prevalent at some festivals due to location, but often all types of art are represented, even if there is only one creator.

Art

Art is often a catch-all category but does include painting, sculpture, drawing, and other mediums that are not explicitly covered by the other categories. This is often the largest category represented at the festivals because of what it covers, but painting and sculpture are possibly the favorite mediums of most artists.

Literature

Writers of all types are welcome, but artistic literature, mostly poetry, is the most common at the Festivals of Arts. Long-form prose is often more common during storytelling festivals and is often associated with the Clay Giants instead of the God of Music.

Music

Music is everywhere at these festivals in the name of Sotark. Bards and others that play music often find it an honor to take part in these festivals and play on the main stage. They may have opportunities over the course of the festival to play in other places, but most attendees keep an eye on the center stage.

Performance

Each Festival of Arts is required to begin with a play depicting Sotark's arrival on Isekai. This stipulation often makes performance one of the main attractions of the festival, drawing in a great number of people from all walks of life. Short plays are a constant feature of the festivals, with different plays enticing visitors throughout the days.

Textile Arts

Textile arts are a medium that most tend to forget. Weaving, knitting, and all things having to do with yarn and cloth are welcome at the festivals. Dyed clothes are some of the most marketable items at the festivals as many come to buy fabric to create clothing or decorate their homes.

Plays of Sotark

Plays of Sotark by Image via Midjourney, created by Riverfang

A traditional part of the Festivals of Arts involves the crafting of an intricate canopy, often using magic, under which to hold the play depicting Sotark's first moments on Isekai. It is believed this tradition was established by the God of Music himself and has been a quintessential part of the Festivals of Arts ever since.

Related Deity

Sotark

Observance

Festivals of Arts are commonly held in the summer months when the weather is conducive to traveling long distances to the open-air festivals. Depending on the location or the hosting organization, these festivals have been known to last anywhere from a couple of days to upwards of five weeks. All types of art are on display and are often on sale based on an artist's wishes.
A center stage for performance, whether plays, music, or readings, with a created canopy, is the main focus of the festival, with market stalls, booths, and other areas of display branching out from the center stage. Smaller stages are scattered throughout the festival area so that music blankets the entire festival.