Suncatch Festival
The Suncatch Festival, Il Rahi Fehir is an annual celebration observed in the Sharan Peninsula, and southern Madras, particularly in areas that are affected by the heavy monsoon rains during the summer months. The festival celebration in Madras attracts visitors from all over the Pāll-tanír and the Dominion and even remote outposts like Qesrir benefit from an increase in tourism in the days and weeks leading up to the suncatch festival.
History
Prior to the arrival of the Dominion in the Pāll-tanír, the end of the monsoon season was celebrated with religious observations, especially in areas where the sun played a central role in regional beliefs as the end of the rains was seen as a "return" of the sun. These celebrations, however, were relatively minor compared to the modern-day Suncatch Festival, which developed as an unforeseen but not necessarily unwelcome consequence of the Dominion's environmental policies.
In 450.29 NL, after it was determined that the geopolitical state of the Pāll-tanír was sufficiently stable following the conclusion of the Second Great Desert Revolt, the Dominion embarked on a comprehensive ecological survey of the Pāll-tanír. In 472.29 NL, following the release of the report to the Grand Rookery, it was revealed that fish stocks along the inhabited coastlines of the Pāll-tanír were in decline. The report concluded that, due to the widespread nature of the decline coinciding with settlements on the coasts, growing populations both in the interior of the continent and along the exterior was leading to the implementation of unsustainable fishing practices that were likely to lead to a spiral of decline for the local fish populations.
Shortly after the release of the report, key legislation was passed at the highest level of the Dominion Government, imposing a three-decade moratorium on fishing in the worst-affected areas and a rolling ban on fishing in certain regions of the Pāll-tanír during certain times of the year. In the interest of minimizing the burden on fishers in and around the King's Bay, who already avoided fishing because of choppy waters and unkind weather during the monsoon season, the ban on fishing in the area was made to coincide with the beginning and end of the heavy rains.
Over time, the first catch following the end of the monsoon season and the lifting of the ban became more and more important until, in 488.29 NL, fishers in Qesrir celebrated the end of the monsoon season and the fishing ban with drinking, music, and a small feast for their families. This is widely considered to be the first Suncatch celebration but it would not be considered a proper festival until 494.29 NL, when the Qesrir city council officially proclaimed it a day of celebration.
Execution
Suncatch Festival festivities take place over four days following the end of the monsoon season. During the first day, townspeople gather by the edge of the water with flowers, petals, food, and music as they send the fishermen off for the day. As the fishermen push off from shore, flowers and petals are tossed into the water after them, along with prayers for a good catch. While the boats head out into the water, the fishermen fly streamers of colored cloth in the air to signify the celebrations.
After the fishermen return with the first day's catch, the festivities truly begin. Over the next three days, fish dishes of every variety are made to be enjoyed by the townspeople as colorful cloths are hung from eaves and fish scale decorations are brought out. One of the most important parts of the festival is the unsealing of the previous year's batch of fish sauce, with a good batch being taken to mean a bountiful year upcoming, and a bad batch meaning hard times on the way.
All sorts of games and competitions are held during the Suncatch Festival, with one of the most popular ones being a show of dexterity and skill as competitors race to butcher large fish for cooking, with their overall performance being judged on the quality and precision of their cuts as well as how efficiently they make use of the fish's flesh.
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