Seedling Festival
A festival capping off a week of planting and farm-work during which children undergo a series of rituals to represent their graduation into adulthood.
History
The Seedling Festival originally started as a celebration to commemorate the completion of a successful week of planting, as people would get together and throw a large feast using their winter stores of food and drink to relax after the heavy labor of Granus Week. Often the eldest children would participate in the planting effort and, upon completion of their duties, would be invited to celebrate as adults. For many this was the first time they would be treated as equals to the other adults in the village.
Over time greater and greater focus was placed on themes of new beginnings and fresh starts as opposed to the strictly agricultural themes the festival started off with. This process accelerated as improved farming techniques and an industrial revolution in the mid 1040s caused a decline in the demand for farming labor.
In the modern era the Seedling Festival is primarily celebrated as a time for new beginnings for both young and old, but its roots nonetheless remain.
Over time greater and greater focus was placed on themes of new beginnings and fresh starts as opposed to the strictly agricultural themes the festival started off with. This process accelerated as improved farming techniques and an industrial revolution in the mid 1040s caused a decline in the demand for farming labor.
In the modern era the Seedling Festival is primarily celebrated as a time for new beginnings for both young and old, but its roots nonetheless remain.
Observance
The festival is split into three main sections, the Banquet of Moonlight, the Replanting, and finally, the Banquet of Sunlight.
Several regions, especially those with a denser urban population, hold a variant of the Replanting where the children are made to place their hands in a pot filled with honey and seeds, before washing off the seeds in a more ceremonial celebration.
In some towns it has become customary for people to exchange gifts for the food they receive from the young adults during the Banquet of Sunlight.
Banquet of Moonlight
The Banquet of Moonlight takes place prior to sunrise on the first day following Granus Week, and consists of a large communal potluck, where multiple families or small towns will converge to share food and celebrate the start of spring. Those who worked the fields for the preceding weeks are treated as guests of honor and are showered, figuratively and literally with food an ale in celebration. Originally only those who worked the fields were permitted to eat during he Banquet of Moonlight, though over time this tradition has weakened and many now consider the Banquet of Moonlight to be an open banquet for all who wish to participate.Replanting
Once the sun crests the horizon the Replanting begins as all the children who participated in the Banquet of Moonlight are made to walk around the banquet table, while those in attendance pelt them with honey soaked seeds. Once a child has completed a full lap of the table they are doused in either ale or, more recently, clean water to wash off the seeds and told by their parents to return home.Several regions, especially those with a denser urban population, hold a variant of the Replanting where the children are made to place their hands in a pot filled with honey and seeds, before washing off the seeds in a more ceremonial celebration.
Banquet of Sunlight
The children will then return to their homes, remove their old garments and don fresh clothes, usually well tailored and styled after the professions of their parents, for the second half of the festival, where they must hand out food to those who did not partake in the initial banquet. This becomes the Banquet of Sunlight as the rest of the town gathers to celebrate both the dawning of spring and the graduation of their children into full fledged adults.In some towns it has become customary for people to exchange gifts for the food they receive from the young adults during the Banquet of Sunlight.
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