Tag Archives: festival

Festival: Japanese New Year

Date of Performance: 04/30/2025

Nationality: American

Primary Language: English

Residence: Los Angeles, California

My informant, who is half-Japanese, tells me of the traditional New Year’s celebration her and her family would follow every year. She didn’t grow up in Japan, but her grandparents still lived in Tokyo, so around the new year, they would visit and stay with them for about a week. The week would be spent watching reruns of 80s television, and then on the 31st, her grandmother would prepare a traditional wintertime stew called Oden, which consists of fish cakes, radish, and other vegetables. They would stay up until midnight, and then celebrate with the annual airing of a New Year’s concert attended by various important figures in the Japanese political and entertainment world. The following day, they would eat something called Osechi Ryori, an assortment of traditional dishes that is eaten every new year’s day, each of which have symbolic meaning for good luck and fortune. Then, they would all go to the shrine near her grandmother’s house, where they would make their first prayer of the year, draw cards that symbolized their incoming fortunes, and eat from traditional food stalls. Sometimes she would go in traditional kimono attire, but for the most part she describes this experience as pretty casual. 

Kind of like the Christmas celebrations described by my other informant, while this practice has its roots in religion, my informant has treated it as more of an informal, familial celebration than one related to its Shinto foundation. They related this experience more to their memories of their grandparents than to its cultural and religious significance, but stated that its yearly practice helped to link my informant with her Japanese side.

Festival: Christmas

Date of Performance: 04/30/2025

Nationality: American

Primary Language: English

Residence: Los Angeles, California

My informant describes the importance of his family’s Christmas celebration every year growing up. He notes that it isn’t necessarily unique, but that his parents made it a point of emphasis in his childhood, and that to this day he fondly remembers the effort they put into making it special for him and his brother. He also notes that while was raised culturally Catholic, he is not particularly religious, and regards the holiday as having more of a personal than spiritual significance in his eyes. His family tradition went as such: every year, they would decorate the tree together on the first of December. His father took care to always buy a real, fresh, pine tree, because he enjoyed the smell of it throughout their house. The biggest day of the Christmas holiday, he describes, was the night before Christmas, when his cousins, who only visited about once a year, would come over with his uncle and aunt, and his parents would cook a large dinner. This was followed by a screening of A Charlie Brown Christmas, after which they were all allowed to open one present before going to bed. The next morning, they would find the milk and cookies they’d left out eaten, and their stockings stuffed with one or two items from their Christmas list. After this, they’d eat the leftovers of the night before, and watch Christmas movies with their parents and family. 

My informant describes this practice with much enthusiasm – I could tell he really enjoyed reminiscing about his childhood. He notes that his parents’ treatment of the Christmas holiday was likely due to his father, who grew up as the child of immigrants, always envying the “classic” Christmas experience he peers had. 

On another note, my informants’ perception of Christmas as less of a religious event and more of a family celebration  is pretty similar to the experience of my other friends. Regardless of if they were raised religious or not, many describe the winter holidays with similar fondness, likely because of globalization and the cultural prominence of the “classic” Christmas holiday. Interestingly, this practice is less community based as it is familial, perhaps reflecting the dominance of the nuclear-family model amongst Western countries and cultures.

Simbang Gabi – Filipino Holiday Festival

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 51
Occupation: IT Help Desk
Residence: Naperville, IL
Language: English

Text:

Simbang Gabi translates to “Night Mass” in Tagalog.

Context:

The performer grew up Filipino in a community of mainly Catholics, then immgrated to the Midwest in 2003 where they joined a “Simbang Gabi” program at their local Catholic church with other Filipino immigrants.

“Simbang Gabi a Filipino tradition that is actually nine days. Basically we go to mass for 9 days in a row before Christmas. It happens at Dawn.” […} “We choose to continue it so the other kids who grew up here would experience our culture and it at te same time our community, it would be a Filipino event that people would congregate to. ” […] “Our Simbang Gabi program would showcase the way we dance, the way we have food, the way we have Filipino games… My sole purpose to do it is for the kids, to continue the tradition, to continue the culture.”

In the Philippines, celebration happens since “the moment we are conscious” and is celebrated by all Catholics (80-90% of Filipinos are catholic). They were told that if they finished all 9 days of Simbang Gabi and they make a wish, it will come true. “It’s like you’re praying or petitioning for something.”

Analysis:

The performer’s version of Simbang Gabi is intriuging because it’s an example of how a Filipino tradition is Americanized and yet celebrates the culture in an “authentic” way despite not being an exact replica of the tradition. Simbang Gabi in the United States is a wonderful example of cross-cultural diaspora as Filipino immigrants “perform identity” and preserve the culture after physically moving and assimilating with American culture.

Simbang Gabi in the Philippines is reflective of Filipino traditions of faith, family, and folklore as it mixes the Catholic influences of Spanish colonizers with communal values of meeting in church daily as well as creating a lasting tradition that defies borders.

Brasilian Festival

AGE: 20 

Date of performance: 04/29/2025

Occupation: Student 

Primary Language: English 

Title-   Carnival

Context- M shares with me a tie to her family heritage that she celebrates even though she doesn’t live in Brazil— Carnival. M’s mom is from Brazil, and M shares with me how they would celebrate— “We would watch it on tv because we weren’t in Brasil but we’d wear Brasil colors and usually eat the traditional foods like feijoada and coxinha.”

Analysis- In folklore, festivals are seen as cultural practices that exemplify traditional and communal elements of a community’s values, traditions and history. Carnival is a big festival in Brazil, celebrating Brazil’s diverse heritage and showcasing different folkloric elements through their extreme costumes, traditional dancing (samba), and the occasional storytelling. Carnival is an example of how culture and tradition are highlighted by a giant performance—a key element in identifying folklore.

The Power of Chowder

Age: 24

Story: “Every year, my family and I look forward to Chowderfest on Long Beach Island like it’s a holiday. Chowderfest is an annual festival in LBI, NJ every October, where the local businesses who sell clam chowder compete to see who has the best red, white, and recently lobster bisque on the Island. It’s one of our favorite traditions, and we’ve been going for as long as I can remember. We wake up early, bundle up in cozy (and sometimes matching) sweatshirts, and head to the festival ready to taste all the different chowders. My parents are always between the red and the white chowders, but honestly, I only like the white. It’s not just about the soup, though, the music, the local vendors, and the energy of the crowd is what makes Chowderfest so special to me. We run into the same families every year, and we always swap recommendations for the best booths, and stock up on sweatshirts with the new festival logo. For us, Chowderfest isn’t just an event, it’s a reminder of everything we love about being together, about the shore, and about making time for joy, even when life gets busy. It’s a little tradition with a big heart, and I couldn’t imagine the Fall without it.”

Analysis: This story captures the cultural and folkloric richness of Chowderfest as a regional tradition deeply ingrained in both family routine and community identity. Festivals like Chowderfest function as modern-day rituals, bringing people together through shared experiences and collective memory. This person’s vivid recollection of matching sweatshirts, friendly rivalries over chowder flavors, and encounters with other families illustrates how such events create a sense of community and belonging. Folklorically, the festival serves as a space for the performance of regional identity, celebrating local east coast foods (clam chowder and lobster bisque), supporting small businesses, and reinforcing communal bonds. These elements transform the event from a food competition into a site of cultural storytelling. The narrator’s attachment to the tradition also reveals the emotional ties to maintaining family rituals, which is a true testament to the power that rituals, festivals, and traditions may have. I think there is something so strong and special about regional communities and their ties to each other. I know myself, I have a huge tie to my hometown, and it’s due to festivals like Chowderfest, that I can feel so connected to the people that live around me. I equate this feeling to being a fan of a sports team who just won big, it’s a lot of love for people you barely know.