Tag Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

Gasparilla

Context: The informant JE is a recent graduate of a college in the city of Tampa, Florida. Not being from there, the informant made it very clear that they tried extra hard to make sure they followed and learned all the traditions of the area. JE stated that they felt in doing this they would have both a better experience living there and also meet lots of new people.

Tradition: Every year in Tampa there is a festival, Gasparilla, which the informant stated was basically just a big pirate festival across the city, celebrating the history of Tampa. The informant said it was a huge deal in the area, and they partook in the event every single year that they lived in the city.

Analysis: The informant constantly emphasized how important the event was to the city, and subsequently all of their college friends. While in the end it seems a bit like a giant excuse to party, the fact the city keeps the tradition as an extremely big deal is tremendous to see. The city because of festival and its “pirate” history has really leaned into this cultural aspect, even naming one of their professional sports teams after pirates. City identities such as this create an extremely fun and connected culture for the residents, and more cities should lean more into their history to have a unique culture.

Colorado Festivals of Dead “Frozen Dead Guy Day” and Coffin Races

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“The first is Frozen Dead Guy Day, it’s in Estes Park. This man, Bredo Morstoel, he died, and he was like “I want to be frozen and you can bring me back to life one day when you guys have that technology.” And they granted his wish and there’s a shed that has his cyro preserved body in it, so he’s a frozen dead guy. And so every year there’s an annual celebration called Frozen Dead Guy Day in Estes Park, where they celebrate and all hail the frozen dead guy that’s just chilling in the shed in town. So people take photos outside and have coffin races.

The coffin races are similar to Emma Crawford Coffin Races in Manitou Springs Colorado. Emma Crawford wanted to be buried alongside Pikes Peak, which is right outside Manatu. There was a horrible mudslide on a rainy day and her coffin comes tumbling down the mountain, down through town square. They’re like “No Emma your coffin!” She gets put back in the mountain, it’s fine. But now to honor her displaced coffin there are coffin races where everybody has to make a coffin and race their coffin down the side of the road against other coffins. People dress up super Halloweeny, super fun, same with Frozen Dead Guy Day, to celebrate the dead! To keep her body safe in the mountain so she doesn’t come sliding in town again you have to race your coffin, to appease Emma Crawford. I used to go to Emma Crawford Coffin Races every year and I would participate, we would sit on top of a hearst. We would dress up and hand out flyers for the haunted house I worked at. Everybody gets so into it and gets competitive about the best decorated coffin, what’s the best design for racing, who do you want to win, who has the silliest costume? The whole thing’s broadcast on the news. Afterwards I love to get myself some pumpkin pie ice cream. 

Context

Y is a 19-year-old college student from Denver, Colorado. She would visit the Emma Crawford Races every year with her family because they have family friends in Estes Park who they would visit and stay with and celebrate the festival. Her dad would also often take her to the Frozen Dead Guy Day celebrations. She remembers the Coffin Races fondly as fun celebrations that were around her favorite holiday, Halloween. She’s really interested in the gothic and macabre, so these festivals were favorites of hers.

Analysis

Both festivals have all of the elements of festivals. They are examples of festival time, when you operate by different rules than you usually would. Death and the macabre are usually avoided for Americans, they’re usually sad, upsetting taboo topics. However, during these festivals, people celebrate those things and make light of them. Emma Crawford Coffin Races occur in October, relating them to Halloween or Samhein. Lots of festivals surrounding the dead happen during this time period, like Day of the Dead, Halloween, or All Saints Day. This is related to the agricultural calendar, when things got colder and crops would start to die after harvest. These are Chthonic festivals and rituals, relating to returning to the earth. During the Coffin Races, people become comfortable with the idea of being in coffins and returning to the earth, something that is usually taboo. Both of these festivals are also the results of when proper burial rituals were done wrong. In the case of Frozen Dead Guy Day, he defied the usual expectations of burial rituals, and is actually attempting to defy death by coming back to life later on. The Emma Crawford Coffin Races are supposedly held to appease Emma’s spirit, because her resting place was disrespected and disrupted, so the festival must be held as a sort of apology for this disrespect and to celebrate her spirit. Both festivals also include lots of elements of performance. They follow a syntax, with the opening, the main event of coffin racing, celebrations such as eating, music, and drinking, maybe a costume contest near the middle, and then the closing celebrations. The big event of the coffin racing in both festivals is a symbolic event representing people making light and coming to terms with tough topics like their own mortality. There are performative acts like the costumes, and the racing. Costumes are also an example of the festival’s specific dress requirements. The festivals also have specific foods associated with them. Y says she loves to eat pumpkin pie ice cream after the Emma Crawford Coffin Races, with pumpkin being a food associated with Fall and Halloween time. These festivals are also community and identity building events for the towns. Both festivals are held in small towns that take great community pride in these events. These festivals have put these small towns on the map, and share town history and folklore stories that have stuck around in the community.

Fourth of July: Holiday

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Me: “Do you have any festivals and or holidays that you participate in?”

NO: “I can talk about the Fourth of July. Fourth of July is a commercialized holiday within American culture that is usually practiced to celebrate the birthday of America. Although each family and household celebrates differently, my family usually goes to a parade, located in my city’s downtown, where we watch fireworks, eat typical traditional American foods (hot dogs, hamburgers, potato chips, and beer), and pop our own fireworks.”

Me: “Do you think Fourth of July involves any type of rituals?”

NO: “um, I don’t know, I mean the only thing I can think of is the idea that within the days and weeks leading up to Fourth of July, it is normal to hear fireworks popping during the night. It’s a way to show one’s excitement for the huge upcoming holiday as many Americans take it very seriously depending on how patriotic they are. My grandpa also usually hangs up the American flag before the start of our family get together and we typically say the Pledge of Allegiance before we begin eating and celebrating; it’s a way to show respect and to salute our country.” 

Context (informant’s relationship to the piece, where they heard it, how they interpret it):

-NO’s relationship within the Fourth of July stems from her Mexican-American culture. Considering that NO is both Mexican and American, her relationship within this holiday stems from her own patriotic beliefs and the appreciation that she emits despite being only half American. NO has heard about this holiday all her life as she has always been exposed to the commercialized store displays, the American culture excitement, and the various parties that she would always go to as a child and as a young adult. NO interprets this holiday as a reminder of the other half of herself. Given that she was born in America, although she has Mexican parents, she values the fact that she is living within a country that can grant her so much in terms of education, stability, and comfort. NO sees this holiday as a representation of who she is and how connected a community can be. 

Analysis(what kind of personal, cultural, or historical values might be expressed) YOUR interpretation:

-The cultural values that are embedded with the Fourth of July are the stereotypical lifestyle values that indicate American culture; this can be seen within typical stereotypical American food (hotdogs, hamburgers, potato chips, and beer) and the patriotic involvement within firework shows, picnics, and commercialized window displays within retail stores. The personal values that are expressed within this holiday is the amount of patriotism that one individual chooses to express. This can be seen within the patriotic clothing that people choose to wear as American culture is evident of wearing anything blue, red, or white, as they dress up for the occasion. This can be seen as one’s overall value of commitment considering one can make the decision to choose to dress up and portray themselves in Fourth of July’s “costume” or not. I interpret this holiday as a community building celebration where unity can be found. I see this holiday as a way to come together as a society and enjoy the moment where people are on the same page. Given the fact that I do celebrate this holiday, I believe that dressing up in red, white, and blue showcases festivity, patriotism, and a way to join together in unity and harmony as a way to celebrate what we all have in common. Within this holiday, the concept of a gloss coating washing over festivals, traditions, and holidays, introduced by Gregory the First, a European Pope, can be seen given the fact that this holiday is celebrated by many citizens of America despite the fact that not everyone in the country is as involved, up to date, and knowledgeable about American politics or news; this signifies that a gloss coating is placed upon Fourth of July as a way to commercialize the holiday and make it seem that it’s solely about hamburgers, beer, and fireworks as opposed to the birthday of America. A holiday that is similar to Fourth of July is Cinco de Mayo (May 5), a traditional Mexican holiday that is celebrated to give remembrance of the Mexican victory over the French Empire. Usually, in American society you can see various individuals using the 5th of May as an excuse to drink and party; this stems from the commercialized notion behind the holiday, much similar to how Fourth of July is viewed as.

Ritual: New Year’s Polka Dots

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The informant claimed that a lot of rituals they remember performing take place around the New Year. “One would be wearing polka dots or, as my mom calls it, bola bola. Because circles represent coins– so like wealth and good fortune in the New Year. She encourages literally everyone in my family to wear polka dots. There was one year where we all found Hawaiian shirts that had polka dots and so that was a little theme for the New Year. It was so cute.”

Context

RELATIONSHIP –
“Financially, it’s always been a little hope that my mom has– like a little bit of faith. Like ‘Maybe the New Year will be better for us financially.’ It’s a thing my mom does. She’s a very superstitious person, so she always has hope in the New Year. She always tries to bring the family together, so that hope can be spread to her family. And she can be surrounded by a similar hope as well.”

WHERE THEY HEARD IT –
“My mom,” they spoke fondly. “It started being more prominent in middle school for me. That’s like the earliest I can remember. I she she kind of, like leans on these kinds of traditions when she feels like she needs it most. With doing a simple thing like wearing polka dots– I think around middle school was when we started facing a lot of financial issues very prominently. My mom is a woman in faith, so she finds comfort in so many different things.

INTERPRETATION –
“[My mom] definitely uses it as like a comfort method for sure. Not really like a defense mechanism, but a ways to kind of like cope with certain things. Giving her that sense of nostalgia that I’m pretty sure she felt with her family growing up.”

Analysis

Polka dots or bola bola are a popular pattern that’s believed to bring wealth and prosperity. This is similar to other beliefs that link prosperity to a particular color, but the complexity of a patterned fabric may be what warrants this belief. With the arrival of a New Year, it’s a common held belief that there will be changes made to one’s life whether it be fate or their own control. Wearing the polka dot pattern on the transition into a new year may be a way to “perform the part” that the participant wishes for themself to be. It’s almost like pretending to be what you’re not, and from then on, transforming into what was done for pretend.

Ritual: New Year’s Eve Jump

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Interspersed within their explanation of the ritual are frequent giggles as the informant looked back on performing this ritual.

“Something that happens on the night of New Year’s Eve– I guess it happens right at countdown. My family does this for years. My mom still does this. Right when it strikes midnight, we jump as high as we can several times until the first minute is done, so you can get taller in the New Year.”

Context

RELATIONSHIP –
“This is just really funny because my mom is 4’9″. I grew up doing it. I don’t know if it’s just a Filipino tradition… but it’s something that my family has been doing. I think it was something more prominent as I became a teenager because my mom is all about the holidays, so she says ‘Ah, just keep jumping! Show your excitement! Ah, the New Year!’ Of course, I don’t believe in it because I’ve been 5’1″ for several years.”

WHERE THEY HEARD IT –
“My mom. I don’t remember the first time it happened. I think it was when I was really young, like when I was in Kindergarten. It was around when I was finally old enough to stay awake around midnight. I knew it was really early on in my elementary school years. I would jump, but my eye level wouldn’t go up that high.”

INTERPRETATION –
“It’s just a silly little thing to do with your family to get enjoyment out of the celebration. It’s one of those traditions my mom does just to like, bring the family together. She grew up with nine other siblings so I’m sure a lot of family traditions happened a lot in her childhood, and she kind of wanted to transfer that to us– to her kids.”

Analysis

This jumping ritual seems to stem off the belief that, with the New Year, comes hope for change. Tall height is seen as an attractive trait to have in many places, and it may be something that people wish for themselves to happen in the future. Especially in the case of younger children when it’s uncertain what height they’ll grow into yet, it feels like a number that’s malleable and subject to change, so it’s natural that people try to take matters into their own hands in an attempt to reach the height that they wish for themselves in the future. Eventually, the belief in it dies down as the participants grow older, but at that point it’s just a fun activity to do with the family and people around you on New Year’s Eve.