LoZ - Hyrule Festivals & Holidays
In-general, unless stated otherwise, no one is barred from attending any other culture's holidays or festivals, so this is mostly a list of the cultures that these things come from or are hosted by.
- A weeklong Food Festival at Hyrule Castle Town in summer; they have all sorts of stalls & food competitions.
- The Picori Festival is meant to celebrate the Picori. Held once every century. - Reference to Minish Cap.
- Fool's Day = April 1st. Literally just April Fool's Day. - Based upon evidence that Hyrule celebrates it.
- Remembrance Day = A day to honor & mourn the lives that were lost during the Calamity. Special attention is given to remember the sacrifices of the soldiers & Champion's who died protecting Hyrule. The little memorials at the gate of the Great Plateau, Fort Hateno, Hyrule Castle Town, Akkala Bridge, Rauru Settlement, Squabble River west of Dueling Peaks, & Meritta Exhange are often visited to leave offerings such as Valiant Gladiolus (Mighty & Amorous) & Silent Princesses. (It's basically like if you combined Veteran's Day with the Jewish holiday, Yom HaShoah, a.k.a. Holocaust Remembrance Day.) - Each individual race also has their own individual day to celebrate the lives of their specific Champion in their own ways. Always held on that Champion's birthday. - This is a Hyrule-wide day of mourning. Valiant Gladiolus are a type of pretty flower the colors of the sunrise; yellow at the center, then orange with deep ruby pink around the edges. Also called Gallant Sword-Lilies. It symbolizes strong character, moral integrity, honor, & faithfulness, as well as feelings of romance. Is heavily associated with heroics & are often placed on the graves of soldiers or other such heroes. Also often gifted to people that someone considers a hero. It is common for young women to gift young soldiers, guards, knights, or just people that the gifter sees as a hero with this flower to declare their romantic feelings. Native to Ordona, Faron, & Necluda.
- Ansatzen Season = Considered the most sacred time on the Hyrulean calendar. According to Hylism, Hylia sealed herself away to keep Calamity at bay in preparation for her Hero's return. She is believed to have slept for 10 days before returning to the world upon her Hero's defeat of the Calamity of that time. As a result, Ansatzen lasts 10 full days, in which Hylists abstain in various ways, from fasting to giving up certain luxuries such as sexual pleasure with one's spouse or wine or enjoying one's favorite foods. This is done in honor of Hylia's sacrifice. It is also tradition to wear a necklace with a bead of amber for the pendant during this time. - This is something like Lent, but Hylia's story wasn't recorded like in the Bible. As such, much of the details pertaining to what actually happened, have been lost. For instance, the fact that Hylia gave up her godhood to become a human. That that human was the first Zelda. That that Zelda & her Link were the origins of Hyrule's royal family. That they were sent back into the past where Zelda sealed herself in Amber, which is why she has become associated with the gem & why it's become a symbol of self-sacrifice & preservation. Why it's used in sealing away evil. And why it is worn by those who worship her. Nor do most even know that she was sealed away for 10,000 years rather than 10 days & that the 1st Ansatzen had chosen for 10 days to represent those 10,000 years because humans don't live that long. Also, due to just how long it's been, Demise & the Ganondorfs have also sort of been rolled into the umbrella of "Calamity" by the time of BotW/TotK.
- Summer Solstice = Longest day of the year.
- Winter Solstice = Longest night of the year.
- New Year = Most of Hyrule follows the Hyrulean solar calendar. - This is a Hyrule-wide celebration.
- Festival of the Three or Triaurelia = A festival held to celebrate & honor the 3 Golden Goddesses. Originally, it was 4 days long, the first day dedicated to Din, the second to Nayru, the third to Farore, & the fourth to all three &, through them, the Triforce. Since the flood, their worship has almost entirely faded, the first 3 days dropped, & all focus placed upon the day of the Triforce. However, since then, even knowledge of the Triforce itself has faded from history, so even though the day is acknowledged as existing to a handful, it's now more so celebrated in a way not unlike how Labor Day is. Very very few people even recall why it's referred to as the Triaurelia since it's only 1 day long or remember the members of the Aureliad ever acting as a trio."
Ovelians (humans with rounded ears; most live in agricultural & ranching villages):
- Rodeo = Held in the middle of summer. In East Necluda, held near Hateno in Olvi Plain, south of Nirvata Lake.
- Harvest Festival = Held in the fall, specifically held to give thanks for autumn's bounty. The 1st few days are an actual festival with food stalls, music, games, & other activities, but the last day of the festival's activities is more for those who don't have families as that day is specifically meant to focus on family togetherness in a similar way to Thanksgiving & is called the Feast of Family. During the Feast, large tables are set up in the town squares for these individuals. It's also tradition for local farmers, brewers, families, & businesses to donate a very small portion of their harvests/food/alcohol so that those individuals without families get to have a Feast of their own together in case they don't have the means to bring anything themselves as the Feast of Family is, traditionally, a potluck. Some families will even invite friends without their own over to celebrate with them & they are treated as part of the family. That last day, you are intended to give thanks for all the blessings in your life. - This is a Hyrule-wide celebrated holiday.
- Annual Baking Competitions = Hosted by Mabe or Ordon depending on who held it last. It is said that there was once an intertown feud between the 2 settlements over which town had the best apple pie recipe. It actually got pretty bloody until the spouses of the mayors put forth an idea for a baking competition to prove who was best. The first year, Ordon won, but the next year, Mabe's mayor challenged the Ordon mayor to a rematch. This started the competition & it's been a tradition ever since. The 2 villages are still very competitive with each other, but it never gets as bad as it was before the tradition was started.
- Festival of Light = An Ordon festival dedicated to honoring the Light Spirits, specifically Fardona (who are Ordona & Faron fused together). Kakariko celebrates it too, but no one does it quite like Ordon. It's tradition for children to weave Brightblooms & Starlight Rosemaries (Glow) into garlands & decorations such as streamers & wreaths & such to decorate the village. - Starlight Rosemary is a type of purple herb that shines at night.
- Bondsday = February 17th. Held at the beginning of spring. The Hyrule equivalent of Valentine's Day, Family Day, & Friendship Day. Is held to honor Karina (Vah KĂ vtrĂŻna to the Gerudo, Kariaina-no-Mikoto to the Sheikah, & Kalina to Faronites), the goddess of love, passion, & a bunch of other things. However, she is specifically a goddess of healthy relationships & not just romance. So, daytime is spent with friends & family, while nighttime is spent with either immediate family or romantic partners. Family is generally celebrated throughout the day. Originated in Ordona, Faron, & Necluda. - This is a Hyrule-wide celebrated holiday. For more about Karina, go here.
- The Hyrule Fair = Held in Central Hyrule, specifically in Windvane Meadow. It's basically just your typical county fair sort of thing. With blue ribbons & all that. Has a bunch of agricultural & ranching contests.
- Carnaval du Masque = A Gopongan carnival day where great jubilation & celebration is had. The entire town turns into a massive party filled with revelry. There is music, dancing, drinks, & food aplenty. Not to mention bright, colorful decorations, extravagant, sparkling costumes &, more than anything else, beautifully-crafted masks. This is also a day for eating as many of the fatty foods in the home in preparation of the fasting & abstinence the next day (the first day of Ansatzen). Goponga tends to hold a massive parade that starts in the center of the village, circles the Lanayru Wetlands before returning to the village center. At which point, the actual carnival starts & doesn't stop until dawn. (Course, by then, most are asleep from getting blackout drunk.) While it's mostly only held in Goponga, out of towners are not just welcomed, but encouraged to join. As they say in Goponga, âle plus, le mieux, Cher.â The parade & carnival always draws a large number of people. The parade will often have water buffalo-drawn carts full of little bags of goodies that paraders will toss to kids. And during the carnival, the prices of everything is rock bottom or, in years of particular plenty, entirely free. Each year, the foremost Gopongan maskmakers are tasked with making ornate & beautiful masks for the gods, which are said to allow them to inhabit those masks for a time, though only until the morning. Those chosen to wear them are given the position of honored guests (though, it is unknown as to what gods are within those masks until they are worn), which allows the gods inside them to use them as vessels & partake of the celebrations. While any god or spirit in Hyrule or beyond is believed to be allowed to attend, the deity most celebrated on this day is Aubermasquem, the Gopongan god of masks, mystery, merchants, joie indirecte (vicarious or sympathetic joy; the act of taking joy in other peoples' health, success, & joy), & altruistic generosity. - Inspired by both Mardi Gras & Carnevale.
- Aloha Festivals = Takes place all throughout September. Is a celebration of Faron culture. Includes a flower parade. Celebrated in Lurelin & the Koholina Archipelago (which includes Eventide Island as its smallest island).
- Mea HoĘťokumu Day = A day to celebrate the founding of the Koholint Domain & the Koholina Archipelago. There is typically a play to perform the story of said founding. - For a basic rundown of Koholina's founding, go here.
- Hanami Festival = Held on the last 3 days of spring. This is a Hyrule-wide celebrated holiday. Started very closely resembling the IRL Hanami Festival, but has since become much more. - For more, go to Hyrule's Hanami Festival.
- Sheikioku Festival = Held at the end of fall to celebrate life, as well as remember the deceased & honor one's ancestors. The festival technically spans a whole week, always ending on either a full moon or a lunar eclipse. Doesn't matter which so long as it's the last bookend lunar phase of the fall. Is only held at night. The 1st 6 nights are spent celebrating & basking in the beauty of the night. This is meant to act as proof to the dead that they can rest easy knowing that the living are still living in the present & moving forward despite the hardships of life, because life is supposed to persevere. However, the most important event only happens on the last night as it's when families visit the graveyard to spend time with their bygone family members & leave offerings for them. (Goldenmerry petals are used to attract the spirits of the dead to their family homes, which was brought over from Zonai tradition.) Because while it is important to celebrate life & live in the present, it is also important to remember the past & honor it. Note that depending on whether the final night will be on a full moon or new moon, the festival's theme will be different. - Is sort of like a mix of Obon, Tsukimi, & Dia de los Muertos.
- Lunar New Year = Sheikah traditionally follow the Hyrule lunar calendar, while the rest of Hyrule follows the solar calendar. As such, the Sheikah hold their New Years celebration at a different time than the rest.
- Rinna = New Year's Festival. Lasts a week. One day celebrating every Heroine. Contests pertaining to the Heroines' traits are held on their day. Culminating in the 8th day, in which the winners of the previous 7 come together & compete against each other in wrestling, archery, spear-tricks, poetry recitation, & dance. Like most Gerudo festivals, visitors are welcome to watch, but are forbidden from participating. - Based on @vigilantdesert's hc.
- SaarqubĂŠ Ami'è = Preparation of Birth. A spring celebration not too far off from Bondsday. It is when the Gerudo send off Vaien of age to find mates with which the next generation will be ushered in. Vah SÄqmĂ la & Vah KĂ vtrĂŻna are said to preside over this day as it is primarily for fertility blessings & prayers for strong VehvĂŻn. - Inspired by @ganondorfthedarklord's hc.
- ĹŞrbĹsa Aaq = A day held in honor of Urbosa. Held on Urbosa's birthday. It is said that Urbosa quite enjoyed alcohol, so many adults choose to honor her by pouring out a glass of her favorite spirit.
- VĹttĂ r'jĂŻ Aaq or King's Day = Every 100 years on the 21st day of the month (the month changes depending on the year), a Gerudo Voe is born & it used to be that such a day was celebrated, but every time that Voe grew up to become a tyrant, it became less & less celebrated. Until after TotK's past, it became a day of anxiety & fear where the Gerudo Chief began sending out guardswomen to check up on as many Vaien as possible to see if a Voe was born &, if necessary, execute them. It is now called Mu'abh'è Aaq or the Day of Culling. However, that doesn't mean that they are always able to find one. Now, though, since then, new discoveries as to the nature of the occurrence has resulted in it instead being used as a day of mourning for the innocent lives that had been needlessly ended out of fear, though it retains the name of Mu'abh'è Aaq so that their sins are never forgotten. - One of the deepest held secrets of the Gerudo. Not many ordinary Gerudo even know about it. It is their greatest shame as a people. Despite this, it was seen as a necessary evil. It would be a long time before it was noticed that those tyrants were all born when the day fell in February, under the light of the constellation, KhinzĂŻr (the great boar). At which point, there was an attempt to try & reintegrate any newborn Voen (with strict supervision & monitoring), but it turned out that there was too much generational trauma associated with the birth of a VoevĂŻn & thus resulted in them often being treated very cruelly by several other Gerudo (very reminiscent of Narutoâs situation). As such, once it was determined that non-February Kings seemed much less likely to take on less savory traits, any VĂ man who gave birth to a child that didn't fall under the Sign of the Boar, were no longer required to bring their sons back to Gerudo Town. The first of said Sons of the Boar since this discovery has yet to come, but as the time draws closer, paranoia begins to surge within the higher ranks of the Gerudo. Especially among the Chiefs. Now, Buliara just regrets that DĂ mĂŻ (Lady) RĂŻju will likely be the one who's faced with such an impossible decision. Especially for one so young. Not that Buliara doesn't think that she could, but more so that she shouldn't have to. The Captain of the Guard may be planning to do something rash in order to not only prevent the young VĂ ltĂ na (chiefess) from having to commit such an atrocity, but also to avoid having to inform her of their people's most closely guarded sins in the first place.
- al'Geru HĂ rfstrĂ da AgĂ zni (The Gerudo Textile & Craft Festival) = Held at KĂ ra KĂ ra BĂ zaar on December 10th to show off fashion, textiles, dyes, makeup, jewelry, & other creations from the year & sell their wares. - Thought up by @hyliascommonwealth.
- The TalthĂŻrĂŻ Tournament = A Gerudo-Only event that only takes place, on average, once every generation. Guests are not allowed to even watch, as such the only reason that outsiders even know that there's something going on, on this day is due to observation. Quite a few in the cultural anthropology community like to debate on what they actually do on this day. There is no exact scheduling. Like, it doesn't take place every 50 years exactly due to the specific requirements behind why it's held. But when it is held, it's always in the middle of winter. - For more on why this tournament is held, go to Vae & the Spring of TalthĂŻrĂŻ. Be warned, it's a weird one. But keep in mind, Greek myth can be just as weird, if not more so.
- Riverward Festival = A festival in the spring when the ocean fish return to the rivers to spawn.
- Mipha Day = Held on Mipha's birthday. Was originally just a holiday to celebrate her, but after her death, became a day of mourning. Was the first Champion's Day of Mourning. The others were inspired by Mipha Day.
- Festival of the Drums = A music & dance festival held in the fall.
- Daruk Day = A day held in honor of Daruk. Always on his birthday.
- Nesting Season = A day to celebrate new life. Sort of a spring cleaning day meant to prepare for a family's next clutch. So, to give the fledglings something to do, the adults will make colorful, chocolate eggs & hide them around town for the fledglings to hunt while the adults clean. - Based on the Second Wind mod.
- Archery Tournament = Self-explanatory.
- Rivali Day = A day held in honor of Rivali. Always on his birthday.
- Night of the Ghost Train = In New Hyrule, in order for souls to cross over to the other side, they must ride the Spirit Train. Its conductor becomes a psychopomp of sorts who has to ferry the souls of the dead to their rest. One night a year, the Spirit Train & its conductor visits every stop & collects the spirits ready to move on, before taking it to something called the Final Stop. At which point, the souls disembark & leave into the Beckonwyld, where they stay until it is their time to be reborn. During this time, anyone who sees the Spirit Train can also see all the souls riding it through the windows. Many will stay up late on these nights in hopes of catching a glimpse of a passed loved one. A solemn night, yet strangely whimsical, almost in spite of itself.
I'm sure I can think of others, but this is all for now.
Edit: This just in, Hyrule uses the same names for months as us & they also celebrate April Fool's Day. See @whostoleallthecookies.
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