Category Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

Santa Barbara Fiesta Spanish Celebration

Text 

Collector: “Do you have any specific rituals or festivals you have participated in?”

Informant: “In Santa Barbara there’s Fiesta. We celebrate the Old Spanish Days the first week of August every year.”

Collector: “How do people celebrate fiesta?”

Informant: “There are parades with dancers and Clydesdale horses. We make paper mache eggs that are filled with confetti and you place confetti over people’s heads by cracking the eggs. Eating tamales, corn on the cob. They make all kinds of tamales and Spanish drinks. We have different concerts and bands playing mariachi in the center of town.”

Collector: “Is it restricted to only a certain group of people?”

Informant: “Anyone can join in. It’s a festival for the whole town to celebrate.”

Context

The informant is a black forty-eight-year-old woman from Santa Barbara California.

Analysis

After learning about Fiesta’s rituals, I found it interesting that the informant participated in Spanish cultural events when she was black. Though she doesn’t share Hispanic ethnicity, attended Fiesta annually as a child and it is now part of her identity. Thus it can be argued that one’s culture does not come from race, but from customs and traditions one participates in. The informant said Fiesta is for the whole town to celebrate. I found it ironic that outsiders felt welcomed in Fiesta, as it is very culturally specific to the Spanish. Instead of “othering” the community, this celebration brought people together.

Flower Moon Music and Arts Festival (Chapman University)

Text

Collector: “Do you participate in any specific rituals or festivals?”

Informant: “We have Flower Moon. It’s a Music and Arts Festival that’s been happening every year for the last three years on the last week of April. It’s usually at the same venue the Garden Amphitheater in Garden Grove, California. It has three stages. And we have 15 different artists, five artists per stage. And it’s not just the music it’s also the arts because we get six different vendors who are all champions to us in the arts. Artists, by the way, are all Chapman students and alumni. And we also get vendors to come sell clothes, jewelry, and food. And it’s like basically like our version of Coachella because it’s the weekend after both the Coachella weekends happen so we call it Coachella weekend three.”

Collector: “How much does it cost for a ticket?”

Informant: “$20 for Chapman students and $30 for general admission. And it’s sponsored by our school, we get sponsors from SGA. So Student Government.”

Context

The informant is a female undergraduate student at Chapman University in Orange, California. She is co-president of The Collective, a music club on campus that’s responsible for organizing the Flower Moon Festival each year.

Analysis

The Festival showcases Chapman Student’s artistic and musical abilities. The financial sponsorship from Chapman University shows that the school enables artistic expression. They provide a space where student’s talents can be appreciated and commodified. The showcase restricts artists to a very niche group: Chapman students and alumni. In my opinion, this makes the event more attractive to people in that university folk group. Ticket price differences urge students to attend, as they get in at a discount. 

Holi Festival

Text: 

When I visited India with my family, I got to experience a Holi celebration, which is a Hindu festival for the coming of spring. It starts by lighting a bonfire on the night before Holi, which for us was just a relaxing time with our family in the area. The next day, everyone is celebrating in the streets, throwing colored powder and water everywhere and all over each other.

“Is there a main activity for the holiday?”

“It’s kind of like this massive color party. There’s music playing, people are singing and dancing, and cooking/sharing traditional Indian foods.”

Context:

My informant is a classmate at USC. While he grew up in the United States, his parents are from India, and has experienced the celebration of Holi when visiting India with his parents. He says that even though he didn’t grow up there, the celebration festiveness of everyone makes him feel like part of the community. 

Analysis: 

My informant’s experience of Holi highlights the meaning and importance of the celebration for my informant’s family and the Hindu culture. Despite growing up in America, the celebration made my informant feel at home with a community he did not grow up with. This highlights the Holi celebration as a time for leaving behind personal differences, and celebrating a festive time with those around you. Additionally, being covered in colored powder and splashed with water would normally be uncomfortable, but the fact this is embraced during Holi shows it is a time for the release of negative emotions and inhibitions. This ability to bring people together and cause them to let go of their worries shows a strong value  of community, and focusing on relationships with those around you despite any challenges.

Birthday Cake for Breakfast

Text: 

“My family has a tradition where on everyone’s birthday, we eat cake for breakfast. The idea is that if you wake up on your birthday and go about your day without eating cake, you could get hit by a bus and you wouldn’t have eaten cake on your birthday. Then, you eat the cake for breakfast every day until it’s finished”

“Does anyone else you know follow the same tradition?”

“There are a few families that do. I remember when I was a kid I thought everyone did it, but later realized it was more of a special tradition to my family.”

Context: 

My informant is a classmate of mine, who says her family has been doing this tradition for as long as she can remember for each member of her family. She says the tradition adds a humorous and fun start to the day, and that her family likes it because it begins the birthday celebrations immediately at the start of your day. Additionally, because it is more of a rare tradition, she added that eating cake on her birthday makes the celebration feel more personalized to her family. 

Analysis:

My informant’s tradition of eating cake for breakfast on your birthday highlights a humorous point of view to life’s unpredictability. The tradition seems to be based on the recognition that your health and family are not guaranteed in life, and places high importance on celebrating moments of joy when they are available, instead of taking them for granted. Additionally, the part of the tradition where their family continues to eat cake for breakfast until it is finished, extends the celebration of the person beyond just one day, emphasizing the appreciation of the person and the celebration of birthdays itself. The tradition not only strengthens bonds within the family, but ensures the wisdom of not taking life’s moments for granted is playfully passed down. 

Christmas Advent Calendar

Text: 

“My family has a tradition where at the start of the month of december, we hang up an advent calendar. It was a physical calendar you would hang up on the wall, and each date on the calendar leading up to Christmas would have a little door that you could put treats inside. My mom would hang it up and fill each door with chocolate, or sometimes a small toy. Then, every morning my siblings and I would rush downstairs to see what was behind that day’s door. 

“Does your family still hang up the calendar every year?”

“Yeah we do, as my siblings and I got older it’s definitely not as exciting to grab the candy or toy every morning, but it’s a thing we’ve always done and it’s become more of just a special decoration for our family.”

Context: 

My informant is a friend of mine who grew up in a family that cherished christmas traditions. While he is 20 years old now and says the excitement of the calendar has faded, he says the calendar is a crucial part of his family’s christmas celebration, and that when he has a family of his own he will be doing the same for his kids. 

Analysis: 

The advent calendar is more than just a decoration or a way to give out treats to young family members. The opening of each door on the new day provides a symbolic countdown that heightens the anticipation and excitement for when Christmas finally comes, providing an aspect of daily ritual within the festive season leading up to the holiday. It’s quite interesting how the appeal of the calendar to my informant changes from being the excitement of getting a treat each day to a symbol of their family bond and celebration. This change signifies a maturing view of the holiday season, from a child’s excitement for new toys and no school to an appreciation of being together and being able to celebrate with one’s family. This also highlights why customs are passed through generations, as even though my informant doesn’t get the same excitement from the calendar as he did as a child, the impact it made on his view of Christmas makes him want to pass it on to his kids as well.