Tricreche Culture:
The Festivals
The festival schedule in Tricreche is a key part of life around the Roueda. The traditions are rooted so closely into the rotations of the seasons and weave together the Fey and the rest of the citizens. It acknowledges the Fey's magic and their protection, and also serve as ways for the communities to stay closely integrated. Each city celebrates a little differently, but Balvonier's customs are described below.
Luz:
Festival of Lights
An overnight vigil from December 31- January 1. There is a beautiful meteor shower every year. People make wishes on the stars and promises made under the stars are considered blessed. Traditional Food: There isn’t a single food, instead you receive a paper cone (usually, although some people buy reusable glass or silver cones). You decorate it with stars and wishes for the new year. There is a mixture of dried fruits, nuts, candies and jerkied meats that are spun in an herb mixture. They are layered, but you don’t know how many layers or how big each layer is. You start eating one hour before midnight, and the first bite of your mixture after midnight is how your year will be. Each type of fruit, nut, meat, and candy stands for something different (but all are positive).
Orastava:
First Flower Festival
February 1st. The weekend after the first bloom is spotted. This celebration is mostly for the children. There are actors, bards, and dancers, as well as carnival games and tournaments. The traditional food is a sweet cookie decorated with petals, the florette. The biggest draw is the talent competition, which is open to all children 16 and under. This is to showcase how you have grown since starting the new year. The project or performance is started shortly after Luz, then they enter the first day of the festival, then compete the final day. There is also another competition, but anyone of any age can enter.
​
This is the first talent competition of the year. There is the flower princess (the name changes each year based on the first bloom), the Black Bear Prince, and the Pixie Prince/Princess. For the Flower Princess and the Black Bear Prince, children under 18 are allowed to enter every other festival. They are expected to perform a talent that they have been practicing since the last festival. They enter the first day of the festival, the competitions start the second day, and the winners are announced the last day just before the Pixie Prince/Princess. For the Pixie Prince/PrincessAnyone can enter this competition, you are paired with someone like a secret santa and you must pull a prank on them before the last day of the festival (it is 3 days long) You enter when the first flower blooms, so you have a few days to prepare. Pranks cannot happen before the start of the festival. The last day of the festival everyone hears the pranks and vote on who wins by applause.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Adh Mor:
Festival of Luck
March 31st As winter fades and spring comes full force, the magic in the forest grows stronger and blesses the town. Feyblossoms are typically in bloom and it is traditional to collect flowers from the trees. You must leave an offering to take a flower and it must be done carefuly so that no one tree is too damaged. These flowers are preserved for a later festival (The Black Hunt). You can preserve them in many ways, some dip them in silver, some press them between pages of important paper such as a favorite book, a love letter, a hand-written poem. Sugared berries are gifted to romantic partners and friends.
Samradh:
Start of Summer
This is the festival in progress at the start of our adventurer's story. Starts the first Monday of May and lasts a week. This is a pretty lively festival and usually draws a huge crowd. Balvonier is the largest city as you first exit the Brez Pass, so they do deal a lot in tourism, but this is also a large source of income for the town. It is similar to a carnival, but festivities usually start around noon and end at midnight. The mornings tend to be pretty sleepy. There are plays and performances each day in all of the parks and the main square, but buskers also come and set up on street corners. Summerale is the traditional drink and flavored honey lollipops are popular. There is another talent competition (Feyblossom Princess, Hummingbird Prince, Pixie Prince/Princess), although if you enter the first you cannot enter again until the next festival.
Balansera:
Festival of Balance
At exactly halfway through the year, this festival is 3 days (July 1-3). Day 1 everyone cleans and finishes undone tasks, makes good on promises, forgive debts, etc. There is a feast in the town that evening and everyone brings all of their leftover food to clean out the houses. Day 2 is the day of balance, the town has many competitions and activities about unity, balance, and transition. That evening there is a formal dance for children who turned 16 since the last festival, held by the Glasserunes . Many couples decide to get married during this festival as it is seen as lucky to go into your new life with no negative attachments. There is a twisted bread that is half sourdough, half wheat, it is traditionally eaten at noon during a toast either in the town square or at home with family. Day 3 is about new beginnings, this is a good time to start businesses, new projects, etc.
Cadea:
First Fall Festival
This festival is planned similarly to the first flower festival, the weekend after the first leaves fall. It is again, one week. A market and performers set up in the main square and across the town. Families and friends exchange miniature pies of various flavors, and there is a large market with vendors selling all varieties of pies for those who don’t bake or just want to try exotic flavors. The middle of the week there is a large formal party/dance hosted by the Glasserunes and they tap their first barrel of mead for the season. There is a another talent competition: Maple Princess, Fox Prince, and Pixie Prince/Princess.
Fomhar:
Harvest Festival
The town decides the date of this festival at Cadea. It is a one day festival that is really more of a day of rest before harvest season starts. Straw dolls are made and given as gifts, time is spent preparing the house and farm for harvest season. The Glasserune’s host a large feast for the town that evening with drinks and dancing.
The Black Hunt
The night that the host of Baba Yaga's riders terrorize the forest (Oct. 31). Typically flowers collected at Ahd Mor are now placed on the doorstep to invite the Fey of the forest to protect the family inside. Other offerings like honey, mead, silver beads or trinkets, or art are also left for them. Feyblossoms are painted on hands, cheeks, or foreheads with henna to mark you as a friend of the Fey. The Black Hunt finds their targets by searching for those in pain or anger. During the day, you visit neighbors, family, and friends, resolve grievances, and typically bring candied apples door to door (usually children bring these, but it is also common to exchange them among friends, families all have different recipes and no two apples are the same). Children are given small pieces of candy and sing the song, “Bringing you Sweetness, Bringing you Life, Bringing you an end to Strife, I bring these to you, they are free, but what, oh what, can you bring me?” After sunset, each family member lights one candle and the rest of the house is kept dark to avoid the Hunt’s attention. Some keep an overnight watch drinking and telling stories.
​
​
​
Grimmur:
First Snowfall Festival
This festival, like First Flower and First Fall doesn’t have a fixed date, but typically occurs late November/Early December the weekend after the first snow. Although it can occasionally come earlier, even before the Black Hunt, although this is rare. The Festival is 7 days. Scarfs, hats, and mittens are traditional gifts exchanged between family and friends. There is a winter market for the three days. The Fey bless the snow and it stays all three days. There are sledding competitions, ice skating, and more. The Feyblossom trees sprout tiny ice flowers that only last the three days of the festival. Silver bells and holiday ribbons are tied to the Feyblossom trees as thanks for keeping the snow. Traditional food: a hot chocolate with cinnamon that is made in a very large pot. Each person in the family puts in 3 cinnamon sticks (so every family’s is a little different). If a stick is scooped into your cup, it is considered lucky! This is the last talent competition of the year: Evergreen Princess, Snowy Owl Prince, and Pixie Prince/Princess.