Year's Dawning Festival

Froenians celebrate the new year with the first full moon after the Winter Solstice.

History

Froenia's Year's Dawning Festival takes place beginning with the first full moon after the winter solstice. It takes place over the course of seven days, with the celebration officially beginning with the lighting of the Dawning Fire, a bonfire that celebrants fuel during the entire week, by feeding it with the old and worn items of the previous year.

Execution

In Froenia, celebrants welcome the new year by doing away with the old year, and fostering a spirit of rebirth and renewal over the course of seven days. This includes:

• Taking part in ritual bathing, cleansing themselves of the previous year's trials and hardships

• Cleaning homes and barns thoroughly, bathing farm animals, and making repairs to homes and refreshing flower gardens

• Ritually burning damaged worn items, and creating new ones to replace them. The items generally include clothes, farm implemnents and artisan's tools, and small pieces of wooden dishware or furniture

• Taking part in a town/village-wide feast, where villagers celebrate the bounty of the previous year, and anticipate the bounty of the coming year

Components and tools

Many people prepare new clothing before the end of the year to wear in the spirit of new beginnings. Families often come together to pool their food resources from the year's harvest in preparation for the upcoming feast, and others spend days gathering the wood for the Dawning Fire, to ensure it can burn through the entire festival.

Participants

Families usually complete some of the rituals in the comfort of their own homes, though it's common for temples and religious centers to offer to host and facilitate ceremonies as well. In locations warm enough, stone buildings are often flooded to serve as communal bathhouses, and in towns near rivers, priests act as guides for families bathing their cattle, saying prayers and blessings over them to bring fortune for the coming year. Firebearers play a particularly important role, with one or two individuals attending the Dawning Fire at all times during the festival, tasked with ensuring that the fire never falls to low to be raised again.

Observance

The Year's Dawning Festival begins with the first full moon after the Winter Solstice, which marks the first day of the new year in Kyrælm's lunar calendar.

Primary Related Location

Froenia