Category Archives: Holidays

Holidays and holiday traditions

Burmese Water Festival

TEXT:

This is a tradition that I have some experience with and that my aunt told me more about. When I was little, every April we would go to our local Burmese temple to celebrate Burmese New Year. After sitting through Buddhist religious services, us children would be handed little squirt guns. We were encouraged to go outside and shoot each other with water. There were often blow-up water slides and sprinklers outside, too. It was a lot of fun, so I never questioned what the meaning of all the water was. We called it the “water festival”, and I learned from my aunt that getting sprayed with water symbolizes a cleansing of the year’s sins and a clean slate for the year to come. She told me that in Burma the celebration is much more involved. Burmese people get inside open vehicles, like Jeeps or pickup trucks and form a parade. Each car passes by small stages where dancers perform in Burmese style. My aunt remembers them dancing to a song specifically relevant to the water festival. Other people on the small stage are tasked with throwing water at the passing parade of open vehicles so that everyone on them can be cleansed. 

CONTEXT:

My aunt noted that this was a tradition that Thai people also do, creating a sort of cultural bond between the two countries. She acknowledged that a lot of Southeast Asian countries share common cultural elements. 

My aunt also said that in Burma, teenage relationships were frowned upon. Dating wasn’t really a thing for her and her siblings growing up. The expectation was that they’d eventually bring someone to their parents and ask if they could marry. It wasn’t about the child’s romantic feelings as much as it was about the parents’ feelings. This relationship was subverted when the whole family came to the U.S., but that’s a different story. 

The reason I bring this up is because, strangely enough, the water festival marked one of the only times when flirtatious behavior was not only allowed, but even encouraged. Older children would chase their crushes around with water guns, trying to get water on each other. For children in general, the festival is more about having fun than it is about cleansing the past year religiously. 

My aunt acknowledged that in her generation she only remembers going to one official wedding. Everyone else eloped to marry someone their parents didn’t approve of. My aunt said a lot of them went to Shan state, a part of Burma that is known for its natural beauty.

ANALYSIS:


The water festival once again displays the ideals of community and neighborhoods in Burmese culture. Most holidays or events revolve around large groups of people that aren’t all blood related. It also displays the inseparable integration of the Buddhist religion into culture, but asserts that religion is more important the older you are. The water festival contains Buddhist services and food offerings are always brought to the monks who lead them, establishing respect for them as well as restating their central purpose to Burmese society as religious guides. Finally, my aunt’s generation of the family is very interesting because they seem to subvert lots of the traditional Burmese expectations for marriage and family. A few of my aunts and uncles aren’t Burmese at all (including my dad) – something that might be frowned upon back in Burma. However, they all had official, parent-supported weddings. I do know that my grandparents didn’t exactly follow their parents’ wishes and eloped, so they might be part of the transition to more romantically-motivated marriage too.

Ski Torch Parade – Sun Valley, Idaho

Every year on New Year’s Eve in Sun Valley, Idaho, hundreds of skiers participate in the “Torch Parade” that occurs at night on the main slope of the mountain. This is done every single year, and participants always use bright red torches as they follow the path down the slope. The informant describes the event as looking like brake lights in traffic going all the way up the slope. The informant who described the tradition is from Idaho and witnesses the parade every year on new years eve; they said everyone from the town and those visiting see this act as “blessing the slope for a good year to come and a safe/fun ski season,” but also says it is just a celebration for the city to commemorate the passing and beginning of another year. The informant themself says they have not done the parade as they ski enough during the year, but that it is very common for avid skiers, and especially visitors to participate in the torch run. The main emphasis from the informant was large, bright red torches being used at night down the main slope on new years eve.

Context – The torch parade is a common practice for ski slopes, but has been seen in all different variations among different ski towns/locations. Each town may have their own reason, explanation, or even design of the torch parade, but every year Sun Valley, Idaho does this specific time and looks for the parade. Another friend of the informant had heard of a torch parade occurring earlier in the ski season at another location, but seemingly attracting the same amount of people. Sun Valley is also a popular location for winter/new year celebrations which adds to the amount of participants and viewers of the parade.

Analysis – The torch parade can be simplified as a communal celebration linked to tradition. While it may have started smaller or even with definite reasons for participating (such as good luck for the new year or lighting the path), nowadays it is very common that there are vast reasons for participants. Either way, this tradition has grown root and reason within Sun Valley, and even in other places when they do the torch parade. This ritual can serve as a way of coming together in the belief of celebrating December 31st (as opposed to Chinese new year), as well as a fun way to “bless the slopes” while skiing at night which is not always done.

St. Patrick’s Day Southside Chicago

In South Side Chicago there is a major parade that occurs every St Patrick’s Day, and it is an unwritten rule that you have to dress up, even further than just green. Most of the community shows up and camps out to go to the parade, bar hop, and hang out — similar to a block party (except it is a long main street). Throughout the day, the song “Rattlin’ Bog” is played over speakers, through bagpipes, phones, etc. For this tradition, you gather in a circle and “pass the torch” of drinking either your own drink, or an Irish liquor that is passed around. The game is that you drink throughout each section of the song and as the song continues, the section gets longer, making it difficult if you happen to be the last person. This is played every year, and multiple times throughout the day; all different ages participate, and even kids play their own version if they are too young to drink. The informant explained this is a very important part of this area of town, particularly because of the Irish population

Context – St Patrick’s Day is a massive celebration among everyone, but particularly Irish individuals who feel extra umph to celebrate a day tied to their nation-state. As there is a major party, parade, and well documented celebration in Ireland itself, the Irish population of Chicago feels compelled to also celebrate big and embrace their heritage on Saint Patrick’s day. This occurs in a predominantly Irish area of the city and serves as a way to come together and celebrate Ireland/Saint Patrick.

Analysis – The Chicago celebration of Saint Patrick’s Day can be simplified as a way in which individuals with Irish heritage can grasp on to their past lineage and embrace “their land” although being removed from that specific area. There is a sense of pride for Irish participants in the St Patrick celebration. Particularly in Chicago, this celebration creates a wide sense of community and is a deeply practiced event as there are ways for people of all different ages, backgrounds, and identities to be able to participate in the vast moments of celebration.

Pre-Thanksgiving Festival/Tradition

“A tradition that my family had is called Pie Day, and it’s not 3-14 but instead the day before thanksgiving. It’s essentially a party where friends and family come together and make pies for thanksgiving, everyone is in the kitchen. Before we moved to Washington my grandma would always have pie day at her house and that is the one time of year that I would see the most extended of extended family. There are lots of wine snacks and cooking. In Washington it was much more my parents’ friends and a couple cousins and such, and the night ends with everyone gathering on the couch and sitting down for a show or movie.”

The informant performs this tradition every year the day before Thanksgiving, typically held at her parents house in Olympia, Washington, USA. Depending on the year, different people may arrive to participate in this tradition. The informant’s immediate family, her parents’ friend group, her dad’s work friends, herself and her siblings, who invite a couple of their friends, and then some extended family are all potential participants, depending who is in town. Every person who comes can bring a dish they would like to make for the next day, but most people just come to socialize and decompress before the busy Thanksgiving day. The informant is not sure when it started, but her family started preparing the pies for Thanksgiving in the days before and as the years went on, more and more people were invited to participate in preparing food prior to the actual holiday.

The tradition demonstrates a culture that values food and socialization, as nearly all cultures do. Cooking together is a common way to build bonds between people, especially family and close friends. It is a sort of unofficial folk festival for just the small group of people involved, taking place the day before a bigger holiday. This is relatively common as people prepare for holidays. There are group cooking days for food-centered holidays, group shopping excursions for the winter holidays that involve gift giving, and group decorating days before decoration-centered holidays like Dia de Los Muertos or Christmas. It is a way to mount the excitement for the holiday as well as extend the celebration.

Taiwanese story: Chang E and the Elixirs of Immortality

Nationality: Taiwanese
Primary Language: Taiwanese/Mandarin
Age: 76
Occupation: Retired, former teacher
Residence: Taipei, Taiwan
Performance Date: 24 March 2024

Tags: Taiwan, story, chang e, immortality, moon, mid autumn festival

Text:

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful woman named Chang E. She was the wife of Hou Yi, a legendary warrior and archer who had shot down 9 suns in another story beforehand. As a reward for shooting down the suns and ridding the world of eternal heat, the gods gave him 2 elixirs of immortality. Hou Yi wanted to take the elixirs together with his wife so both of them could become immortal, so he put the two elixirs at his house and entrusted them to his wife. As Hou Yi left to deal with other business one night, one of his apprentices heard of the elixirs, and, out of jealousy and anger, snuck into his house to steal them for himself. Chang e was inside the house and saw what the apprentice was trying to do, so after a bit of a scuffle, Chang e, in a last ditch effort fueled by fear and adrenaline, drank both of the elixirs at the same time. Hou Yi returned to his house just as this happened, and ran to see his wife float up towards the moon. Unable to reach his wife in time, Hou Yi mourned the loss of his wife on the moon, and later made a habit of bringing out moon cakes and other food that she loved, in remembrance of Chang e and to let her know that he was still looking out for her.

Context:

C. is a born and raised Taiwanese citizen, and has told her fair share of stories to her children and grandchildren alike. This story is one of the most famous and commonly known stories in Taiwan and most other East Asian countries, and told me this story alongside the story of Hou Yi due to their interconnection.

Analysis:

Along with the story of Hou Yi, this is one of the oldest stories in Chinese (and thus Asian) folklore, so a couple of details are changed depending on the version. Details like the type of food/drink the immortality elixirs were, Chang e’s motivation, the aftermath of Chang e going to the moon, whether a rabbit was involved, and more all vary with different retellings. Overall, this is a good example of a common story with various differences being made by various different storytellers over time, and how a story becomes a festival/tradition due to the eating of moon cakes and such during the Mid-Autumn Festival.