Category Archives: Holidays

Holidays and holiday traditions

Mid Autumn Festival

My informant usually celebrates this with family, and the date depends on the lunar calendar, but is typically in the autumn and is always the night of a full moon.

During this festival you typically gaze at and appreciate the moon and eat mooncakes. Mooncakes are typically sweet pastries but they can be savory with a variety of different fillings from date to a sweet nut paste to lotus paste and salted egg yolk.

This festival is celebrated because of a Chinese myth with many variations. The basic story is that a woman ended up drinking an immortality elixir that would have brought her to heaven, but her husband was still on earth. Because of this she chose to live on the moon instead so in the mid autumn festival, moon gazing is like how every year the husband would eat mooncakes and look for his wife on the moon. Due to this, the festival is generally a family activity.

The story itself can depend but in a few variations my informant is pretty sure that they were once gods, but the husband had to shoot down several suns (which were the children of the emperor of the sky) and as punishment the couple were turned into humans. However, they received the elixir at some point and wanted to split it to be together, but they had to wait until the full moon for the effect to work, but one month the husband was away and someone attacked the wife for the elixir so she drank it so the attacker wouldn’t get it.

This festival is based on a myth based on the cycles of the moon. Not only is the meaning based on the moon, but the food eaten is also moon based

Lunar New Year

My informant usually does not do as much as some other people may do on Lunar New Year because her parents are immigrants and the culture is not as strong here, but they typically have a large spread of different foods that are typically eaten during New Years and they eat together while watching the official Chinese broadcast of the Lunar New Year celebrations. They usually wear something red, as it is a lucky color and in old Chinese legends, it was one of the things that scared away a monster. Depending on the year, they might also have family friends over for a potluck.

My informant would celebrate on the lunar New Year’s Eve, the day of Lunar New Year, and the celebration lasts for 15 days after the first day. The 15th day is the lantern festival and she eat tangyuan for good fortune. In China, this celebration is a holiday so most people go home to celebrate. However, my friend lives in the United States, so they usually celebrate on their own, have friends come over and video call their extended family. They perform this because they believe it will bring their family good fortune over the next year. Each food item has special symbols, like fish being a homophone for a surplus or wealth, for good fortune as well as other things to “beckon” good fortune, health and general wishes for wellbeing in.

Such things include red outside the house. Firecrackers are also used because of an old myth that a monster kept attacking a village and the village realized they could use the color red and firecrackers to scare the monster away.

It appears that this tradition is widely practiced and based heavily on old myths and is adaptable even outside of the region that the tradition originated from. While the ritual may have changed as the United States does not have a holiday everywhere for Lunar New Year and they are further from their extended family, they found a way to celebrate and continue to complete this good fortune ritual and celebrate.

The Feast of the Seven Fishes

The Feast of the Seven Fishes is an Italian American Christmas Eve celebration. J’s family has been celebrating with this feast just for the past few years, and he says it allows them to connect with their culture and ethnic community. In accordance with online descriptions of the grand meal, the “essentially have a dinner party with 7 different fish cooked into the dishes.”

According to Eataly, the tradition was started by Italian immigrants in the U.S. in the early 1900s and while the exact origins/meanings are difficult to trace, “the ancient tradition of eating fish on Christmas Eve dates from the Roman Catholic custom of abstinence from meat and dairy products on the eve of certain holidays, including Christmas. The number seven is rooted back in ancient times and it can be connected to multiple Catholic symbols…” Therefore, like for J’s family, one can presume that both the meals and symbolism present were reminiscent of “home” for early participants in the Feast.

He believes it to be a celebration of abundance and the “being better off” that comes with immigrating to the U.S. as well as a ritualistic acknowledgement by Italian Americans of their cultural history and the sacrifices and hard work of their ancestors.

Big Bear Ritual

Informant: N.N

Nationality: American

Primary Language: English

Other Language(s): N/A

Age: 19

Occupation: Student

Residence: Burbank, CA

Performance Date: 04/26/2024

N.N is 19 years old and is from Burbank, CA. I am close friends with his brother, so N.N is an acquaintance of mine. I asked him if there are any festivals or rituals he participates in regularly. He tells me about the yearly ritual his family does, in celebration of Christmas and December Break. 

“Every December, once school’s out, my family heads up to Big Bear and we stay there for like a week. We started this whole thing about four years ago when my uncle, who’s pretty much obsessed with snowboarding, thought it’d be a great idea for us to get together and hit the slopes. So, my mom would rent an Airbnb, and we’d spend our winter break snowboarding as much as we can. It’s pretty fun. My cousins E. and M. were just getting old enough to enjoy the trip, so my uncle figured it was the perfect time to start. I interpret this yearly celebration as a way for our family to just enjoy winter break and Christmas together in a way that’s unique to us. I really like it and I hope we keep doing this for a long time.”

Their December snowboarding trip also coincides with the Christmas season, which I think adds value to the family bonding experience. Since I know them personally, I know that they are a family that is super active and always into sports so this was probably a creative way to incorporate their hobby into a celebration. For them, Christmas is a time that’s associated with family and togetherness. Even though they aren’t Christian, they celebrate Christmas as a way to get closer and show appreciation for one another. I think that by integrating their holiday celebrations with this active tradition, it allows them to have core memories and stronger relationships since they have a shared experience. Their tendency to make it a tradition also shows how they have celebrated many traditions / rituals before that is personalized to their interests.

Chinese New Years Attire

Informant: N.N

Nationality: American

Primary Language: English

Other Language(s): N/A

Age: 19

Occupation: Student

Residence: Burbank, CA

Performance Date: 04/26/2024

N.N is 19 years old and is from Burbank, CA. I am close friends with his brother, so N.N is an acquaintance of mine. I asked him if there are any festivals or rituals he participates in regularly. He tells me about a specific dress code / costume his family wears every Chinese New Year. 

“Every Chinese New Year, it’s all about wearing red in our family. It’s a tradition that’s been around since I was born. We did this because red meant good luck. As a kid, all I thought was “Damn, I gotta find red,” haha. My mom taught me early on about this ritual—it’s supposed to ward off bad luck and bring prosperity. I personally don’t believe in the effects of this ritual but I don’t mind doing it either.”

Wearing red for Chinese New Year is deeply rooted in cultural and historical beliefs about prosperity and protection. I believe his family started this to ward off bad luck, specifically negative energies and misfortunes. This tradition also reflects their value of family importance, since everyone comes together in a shared practice to start the year positively. I interpret this custom as a beautiful way to wish for the best for your family while looking forward to a hopeful future.