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Winterfeast! ❄️
A Secular Wintertime Holiday
In my home region of the world, winter is a cold time of year, known for sleeping trees, biting winds, frost, and snow. Holidays are, I think, a good way to help cope with what can be an unpleasant time for a lot of people. For years, I've been toying with the idea of a secular holiday anyone can participate in, with no religious baggage.
I don't intend to replace Hanukkah or Christmas or any other wintertime holiday or "convert" anyone to atheism—this holiday is intended to be for anyone and everyone who wants to celebrate! You are free to observe it alongside any religious or secular observances you participate in.
What's it all about?
Winterfeast is all about love and togetherness and all that good stuff—spending time with the people you love and who love you. It's also, of course, about indulgence—hence the "feast" part!
The main thing to do for Winterfeast is to get together with people you love, eat a bunch of good food, and appreciate each other! People need to rely on each other to make it through the hard stuff in life, and that includes the cold months of the year.
When is it?
Winterfeast lasts from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox. At any point during winter, you can have a Winterfeast celebration—you can have as many as you want, even with the same people!
In the northern hemisphere, where I am, that means Winterfeast starts on December 21, 2022 and ends on March 20, 2023. In the southern hemisphere, Winterfeast would start on June 21, 2023 and end September 22, 2023, but I don't know enough about the southern hemisphere to know if these vibes even fit winter for you folks. It's up to you, though!
What do you do?
Rituals and traditions are obviously a big part of most holidays, but Winterfeast is just starting out, so as of right now the only ritual (which is strictly for ritual's sake) is that everyone raises a glass and cheers "Winterfeast!" to kick things off. It doesn't have to be alcoholic beverages, but it certainly can be—whatever's right for you and your loved ones!
When it comes to decorating, the Winterfeast colors are green (for life) and white (for snow). The main symbol is the snowflake—it doesn't have to be a specific design, but natural snowflakes do take hexagonal forms! Beyond that, decorate with what feels good to you. If you want twinkly lights, go for it! Wreathes? Sure!
You can eat whatever kind of food you want, but I recommend hot food in general, potlucks, soups in particular, and hot pot intrigues me but I've never tried it. A pot of soup can go pretty far for a group of people! Ordering food is fine too!
Gifts aren't required. Celebrants are not expected to give or receive gifts. You can if you want, but Winterfeast isn't about "giving" so much as "sharing"—sharing warmth, sharing food, sharing company and time. But if you want to give someone a gift, I won't stop ya!
You're totally allowed to celebrate Winterfeast online, too! If you want to have an online celebration with the group chat or in your MMO, that's fine!
Beyond that, come up with your own traditions! Do things a certain way, not because you have to, but because you want to! Whether it's specific foods, activities, decor—whatever you want to do! You can even have different traditions with different friend groups, or with your family vs your friends, or whatever! Build your own traditions with the people you love! But be wary of any attempts by businesses to create traditions—businesses just want your money and do not love you, and Winterfeast is all about love!
Contact
If you would like to ask a question or talk about what you did for Winterfeast, you can reach me at winterfeast@protonmail.com! After Winterfeast is over, I might create a little page to share peoples' Winterfeast experiences. I think this could be a fun annual tradition and serve as a way to share inspiration with other Winterfeast celebrants!
Please forgive me if anything takes a while—I'm just one person!