Festivus

Festivus is a nondenominational holiday featured in an episode of Seinfeld, a popular American television sitcom of the 1990s. It was featured on episode number 166 of the show, entitled "The Strike", which first aired on December 18, 1997. Many people, influenced or inspired by Seinfeld, now celebrate, in varying degrees of seriousness, the holiday in real life. The definitive book on the holiday Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us by Allen Salkin, with a foreword by Jerry Stiller is coming out 26 October 2005.

Main elements of Festivus

The Festivus celebration includes three major components:

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• The Festivus Pole: During Festivus, an unadorned aluminum pole is displayed, apparently in opposition to the commercialization of highly decorated Christmas trees, and because the holiday's creator, Frank Costanza, "find tinsel distracting." Local customs vary and you may be able to decorate your pole with non-threatening plain decorations, or ordinary green garland.
• The Airing of Grievances: At the Festivus dinner, each participant tells friends and family all of the instances where they disappointed him or her that year.
• The Feats of Strength: The head of the family tests his or her strength against one participant of the head's choosing. Festivus is not considered over until the head of the family has been pinned to the ground. A participant is allowed to decline to attempt to pin the head of the family only if they have something better to do instead.