The Great Cookout

The Great Cookout of Balaros is an annual tradition in Elementalism, practised in Maganti, and also observed to a lesser extent in Solathi, Tanoron, the Southern Sapphire Coast and the the Heartlands. It is a three-day summer festival dedicated to the Elemental God of fire, Balaros, and is effectively an enormous banquet for the less fortunate.

History

The Great Cookout of Balaros was first celebrated by the Firedancers of Maganti in 151 DoM as a way of reaching out to the poor. The idea was simple; invite the poor of Maganti to a great banquet, using a large bronze grill above a sanctified fire to roast a variety of meat and vegetables. Like many of the rituals the Orders of the Elements carried out, it was adapted from the Calinani practice of roasting meat over an elevated wooden grill and combined with Elementalist spiritual beliefs in a form of syncretism.
The tradition evolved to become an annual event in Maganti, with farmers, butchers and cooks seeing the event as a way to showcase their skills and serve the community. Some of the greatest culinary minds in the Calinan Sea now make the journey to Maganti and other major cities on both sides of the Calinan Sea. The Balaran Templar, the Arikandan  counterpart and predecessor of the Firedancers, have co-opted the ritual and have added their own take on the event, but it is seen as an overly formal, organised shadow of the main event in Maganti.

Execution

At the beginning of the first day of the festival, the spiritual leader of the local Balaran community welcomes the attendees and invokes the blessing of Balaros upon the festival, leading the people in prayer. After the first prayer, the fires of the grill are sanctified and dedicated, and then food begins to be prepared on the grills. The poor are always given the first serve of the food prepared. More affluent citizens may then have a serving after the poor have eaten. If there is food left over, the poor may have a second helping.
There is a second grilling carried out a couple of hours after midday, and a third for the evening meal, which goes well into the night. After around midnight things begin to die down until the next morning, when the process begins again for the second day and third day.
At the end of the third evening meal, the spiritual leader thanks all for their attendance, saying prayers to Balaros to bless all in attendance for the coming year. The flames are then doused. The people may remain but are asked to disperse after about 10PM.
Asides from the feast itself, there are a number of sideshows put on for the people. In Maganti and Kalor-Gai, the monastery complexes are completely open to the public, one of the very few times each year it is done. Visitors are encouraged to ask questions about Balaros and seek counsel and advice from the priests and monks. Plays are also put on, with monks or priests taking on the roles of characters in the tales of Balaros’ adventures and those of his human companions. It is also a common time for monks and priests to recruit by talking with prospective members.

Components and tools

The most prominent element of the ritual is the enormous bronze grill used to elevate food above a maintained flame. In the Firedancer Temple in Maganti, up to 100 individual pieces of meat can be cooked at once.
Just about every kind of meat imaginable is used for the festival. The most common foods are beef, lamb, fish and poultry, but with the popularity of the festival spreading, other meat such as pork, venison and even lizard can sometimes be cooked up.

Participants

The Cookout is presided over by the chief priest or monk of Balaros in an area; in Maganti this is the Mentor of the Firedancers, at the Forge this is the Exarch of the Balaran Templar, and at other temples it is usually a Kolotor or head priest if the temple is small. They carry out rituals to sanctify the ceremony and call upon the blessings of Venderus to all present.
The other important attendants are the cooks, who prepare the meals. Originally they were purely Firedancers but now any volunteer can prepare food.

Observance

The Cookout is carried out in the summer, usually on the 21st to 23rd of Highsun.