Originally a yearly event only celebrated by Homesteaders, Fair Day has since evolved into an official Ymir holiday. The holiday is formally meant to help train minors in societal matters, informally it's a way for minors to make new friends and compete in a healthy fashion. Competitions allow for practicing important skills, while other forms of entertainment are available for whoever doesn't feel like competing.
Named after the funfairs created to entertain the minors, Fair Day is organized by the government within the First City, and by Homesteaders in the wilderness. Since the Science Department has no underage staff members, they do not organize any events. However, they do send engineers to help with the various rides that the funfairs employ.
Origins
Asides from virtual classrooms, Homestead children rarely meet anyone outside their neighbours. Larger events still were generally limited to less than ten households. To allow their children to meet people outside their limited social circles, several Homesteaders started setting up larger parties with hundreds of guests. Various forms of entertainment were designed to entertain the children while the adults would supervise and celebrate.
After a few years, in YY 9, an actual funfair day was set up, with four locations that ended up with a combined total of 78% of all Homestead households attending. After several years and rising popularity, even drawing Defenders and civilians from the First City, the organizers lobbied the Ymir government for official acknowledgement and subsidies. The government made it an official holiday, and started organizing events in the First City as well.
Types of Events
On the original Homesteads, various individual and team competitions are held, while visitors can also try various challenges to informally compete against each other. One example is judged survival challenges where participants receive orders to use tools and craft devices within a deadline, ranging from snares to improvised barriers. Obstacle courses, archery and firearms competitions, cooking and baking contests, and more all allow for competing in ways that help train useful survival skills.
An important note is that visitors can participate in every contest except for those involving firearms. Only Homesteaders are allowed to wield firearms, off-duty Defenders and civilians are only allowed in a formal state of emergency. Furthermore, firearms and bows are only allowed to be fired in underground shooting ranges, to prevent the noise of gunfire to impact local wildlife.
In the First City, various intelligence contests are used, such as debate practice. Ball throwing and other physical challenges also exist, but none involving any form of weapon. Just like with the Homesteaders there also are playground devices, letting children of all ages enjoy themselves. In recent years, some companies have been developing entertainment rides, experiments that are meant to help plan entertainment parks.
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