If you’re looking for a way to add a little extra flavour or realism to your fictional universe, you may be tempted to use the current holiday season as inspiration. And you should! Adding holidays is a great way to make your world feel more well rounded and is an interesting way to provide insight into the way the world works.
But what are some ways that you can create a holiday that don’t feel like you’re just copying real world holidays? Here are a few things to consider!
When is there an influx of food?
A very common reason to celebrate is food! Think about how food plays a role in the celebrations we have in this world, and how that might translate to the world you have created. There is a long history of harvest festivals, or even just holidays that are based on creating tons and tons of food to bring people together to eat.
In these cases, consider what kind of food would be available that is worth celebrating! These kinds of holidays are often seasonal and dependent on the earth operating in a fairly regular manner, so there’s a lot of opportunity to use this kind of holiday as a means of expositing things like how the environment functions and if there’s been any large changes from one year to the next that are unusual.
Environmental events
The longest and shortest days of the year are used here to determine the changing of the seasons. Full moons and solar eclipses and first snowfall have also been causes for celebration, though they are not as regular. Does your world have any traditions around these smaller events?
Alternately, was there a large scale environmental event that caused a great change that the people in your world want to remember? Traditions could be formed around the idea that it might happen again, or just to remember the last time.
Ruling powers changing
In terms of a monarchy, the changing of power can be a big deal to the people under that rule. The death of a beloved or hated monarch might kick off a celebration of some sort, or even the crowning of the next in line.
For a democratic society, there might be traditions around the day in which the people come together to decide on their new ruler. A day off of work for people to come together, or something that the people can witness as those in the running for power compete to take the rule.
Cultural or religious reasons
If your world has something unique about their culture or religions, are there any holy days or generally sacred practices that occur on a larger scale? Is there a public version of those traditions for those who may not be part of that culture or religion to also participate? Christmas is a holiday celebrated by people often regardless of religious affiliation, so does your world have something like that as well?
A combination of these things!
Sometimes these ideas can intersect! A full moon may be the day that the new ruler is crowned, or the harvest festival coincides with a large religious holiday. Look at ways that these things can intersect and see the opportunities that you can craft to use it to help with adding a little more flavour and interest into your worldbuilding.
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Have you created any holidays for your fictional universes?
