Festivus 2017: Quotes And History To Celebrate The Seinfeld Holiday Episode

For a lot of people the holiday season is full of the thrill of exchanging pleasantries and gifts, but for those who are tired of the commercial nature of the festivities, fret not, as it is “a Festivus for the rest of us.”

What started off as a quirky feature in the TV sitcom “Seinfeld” almost 20 years ago, Festivus has grown over the years to be a tradition in its own right.

Festivus is celebrated on Dec. 23 every year as an alternative event to the Christmas season, which comes with its inherent pressures.

The tradition was started by scriptwriter Dan O’Keefe and became a major part of American pop culture after the 1997 episode of the show titled “The Strike”.

Depicted as a non-commercial holiday celebration, the festival includes a “Festivus dinner, an unadorned aluminum Festivus pole, and practices the airing of grievances and feats of strength.”

The episode referred to the festival as “a Festivus for the rest of us,” reinstating the open-source nature of it. Festivus is celebrated as both a parody holiday and as a sign of consumer resistance.

Journalist Allen Salkin rightly describes it as "the perfect secular theme for an all-inclusive December gathering”.

To further emphasize the non-religious foundations of the holiday, an unadorned aluminium pole is fixed in the corner of the room as family, friends, and acquaintances all gather around the dinner table where instead of saying thanks to each other, everyone takes an opportunity to convey how each person has disappointed the others over the past year. In the end of it, there is rumble around the dinner table to mark the grand finale.

It is important to know to punctuate the evening by labeling any regular occurrence as a “Festivus Miracle.”

The episode can be watched on Hulu, but before that to get into the mood for Festivus here are some quotes from the episode.

1. “Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reached for the last one they had, but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized there had to be another way. “[The doll] was destroyed. But out of that, a new holiday was born. A Festivus for the rest of us.”

2. “At the Festivus dinner you gather your family around and tell them all the ways they have disappointed you over the past year.”

3. “No [tree]. Instead, there's a pole. Requires no decoration. I find tinsel distracting.”

4. “The tradition of Festivus begins with the airing of grievances. I got a lot of problems with you people, now you're gonna hear about it.”

5. “Frank invented a holiday? He's so prolific.”

6. Gwen: Jerry!
Jerry: Gwen! How’d you know I was here?
Gwen: Kramer told me.
Kramer: Another Festivus miracle!

7. George: Hey, check this out. I gotta give Christmas presents at Kruger so I'm pulling a Whatley.
Jerry: A donation has been made in your name to the Human Fund. What is that?
George: Made it up.
Jerry: The Human Fund. Money for people.
George: What do you think?
Jerry: It has a certain understated stupidity.