Snow Turn

Describe a tradition of gift-giving in your world — #WorldEmberGift

History

The Snow Turn is a festival that origined back in the First Island to celebrate the Ancestor of Ice awarding her blessings to a select few. As part of the celebration, the newly-blessed Frostling was expected to give gifts to their family and close friends.
As time went on, the costume of family leaders distribuing gifts around the beginning of winter spread to other subcultures of the first island. By the time of the Great Sailing, it was already commonplace among all of the Anrgord, and even some settlements of Eopras.
In modern times, the Snow Turn is celebrated, to varying degrees, in all of the Thelean Kingdom, and a variation of it still survives among the Eopran Republic. It is ubiquitous in the Duchy of Frost, where the traditional gift-giving is accompanied by musical performances and feasts that often bring together many families of a community.

Execution

The Snow Turn is declared the moment the first snow begins to fall. If this happens in the mmiddle of the night, celebration begins early in the morning; otherwise, if it snows in during the day, people will suspend their usual activiest to celebrate.
Because of its unpredictable nature, preparations for the Snow Turn can begins weeks in advance. It involves the curing of meats, storing of fruits and vegetables, and the procuring of gifts. In places where its celebrated with artistical performance, rehearsals may take place many months prior.

Participants

The celebration of Snow Turn is centered around the exchange of gifts between family members and friends. The gift-giving usually happens as soon as possible after the Snow Turn is declared, and traditionally begins with the eldest members of a given group and ends with the children.
Its also customary for the family chief to hold a big feast after nightfall. These may sometimes see diferent families gathering into a single festivity, that easily extends into the late hours of the night.

Observance

The Snow Turn traditionally happens right after the first snow of winter.
In places that are too warm for snow, people that celebrate it will usually do so on a fixed date around the beginningof winter, that may vary from community to community.