Tag Archives: tradition

DefCon Run

Nationality: American
Occupation: Computer Security
Language: English

“What we used to do is we would run one run- okay when the convention was on the strip, in the middle of the strip, like at Bally’s or Flamingo or that area, there would be a 5k run one day to the north, one day to the west, one day to the east, and one day to the south. The problem is over time it got too large and we couldn’t run as one large group, and the location of the convention went to the convention center, so we’re no longer on the strip. But we still meet in the morning Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday outside the convention center. And then we just get into groups and do different runs. Mainly based on how far you want to run and how fast you are, so if you want to just run back to your hotel you can.  It has grown beyond that, so we try to get together one night at a restaurant and just mingle. So its grown beyond the running in the last few years, I guess. I bump into some of the runners at the conference and we say hi.And we’ve been getting more and more swag over the years, one year they had bandanas, now we have official runners’ bibs- one year they did prime numbers but I don’t think there’s any pattern now. We’ve also had unofficial renewals of wedding vows because the guy organizing it is the guy running some online church that he got a certificate for.”

    Context: “The DefCon run is not officially sanctioned by DefCon. It started where a few people that were involved with Defcon wanted to have a run in the morning and run with people. It was pretty unstructured but it actually grew over time. We tried getting it as a sanctioned event but they were concerned about liability and that Defcon can’t support it. So we’re doing it unofficially without Defcon knowing. We even have a giant flag with a rabbit with Defcon inside of the rabbit. So even though we aren’t official, we try to sneak in Defcon. In the early days, we started with maybe 30. When it got to 100, that’s when we tried to get official status. It’s probably more than 140 now.”

    Analysis: This run, unofficially affiliated with the hacking conference known as Defcon, held in Las Vegas annually in August, is a renewal and formation of social bonds to the informant. He is able to meet new people and run with many of the same people who were participants years ago, when the run was smaller. These acquaintances last into the conference, where they are more likely to be familiar with people in different talks and speaker events. Because the run is several days, as is the conference, the bond is able to be deepened over the course of the four runs, as is explored by the informant’s mention of dinner becoming a part of the celebration. 

    In addition, the structure of the run itself is interesting. Four runs in the four cardinal directions may speak to the natural and athletic search runners are on, especially in a metropolitan area such as Las Vegas. It allows the runners to explore the area and ground themselves within the context of the city as a geographical location, especially considering the rest of the day will be spent inside a conference center and isolated from the outside. The growth of this run speaks to the larger desire to both seek community during the conference and maintain a larger community that they can reliably expect to rejoin year after year, running the same paths and using this tradition as the start to their day.

    Ritual – Secret Santa + Gingerbread cookie making

    Nationality: American
    Occupation: USC Student
    Residence: Los Angeles, CA
    Language: English

    On Christmas Eve my informant and their family bake gingerbread cookies and doing Secret Santa

    “Every every my family does Secret Santa on Christmas Eve. The youngest in the family says who they have first and then that person opens their gift and so on. While this is happening we eat the gingerbread cookies we made in the morning together. We use cookie cutters to make them into different shapes and decorate them however we want and each person gets to eat their own creations.”

    This Christmas Eve tradition combines a ritual gift exchange with communal food preparation, both serving to reinforce family bonds, creativity, and shared identity. Secret Santa is a gift exchange that functions as a structured, participatory ritual that relies on the act of giving, surprise, and anonymity. In folklore studies gift-giving can be seen as a form of symbolic communication conveying affection, reinforcing social ties, and social obligation. The youngest in the family starting the gift-giving off adds an age-based hierarchy to the ritual, highlighting the importance of youth and continuity in my informant’s family. This ordered giving also introduces a ritual sequence that keeps everything organized and emotionally engaging. The shared activity of baking gingerbread cookies reflects a domestic ritual centered around a traditional way of preparing the food. The personalized decoration and use of cookie cutters makes the baking both creative and communal, promoting self-expression within the structured family framework. Eating the cookies during the gift exchange linked the two rituals together, adding multiple forms of participation to the cohesive festive tradition. The structure, baking in the morning then decorating then eating during Secret Santa, gives Christmas Eve a rhythm that separates this ritual from the everyday. Overall, this ritual tradition is a great example of how folklore functions in the modern family blending ritual and repetition with creativity to create a sense of shared identity and celebration. It’s a lived tradition that focuses on values like connection, generosity, and joy through shared acts.

    Ritual – Easter egg hunt

    Nationality: American
    Occupation: USC Student
    Residence: Los Angeles, CA
    Language: English

    My informant spends every Easter with their extended family, having dinner together and going Easter egg hunting as a kid

    “Every Easter the parents spend the night before Easter hiding plastic eggs filled with candy and money all around my uncle’s property (they have it there every year) for the kids go hunting for. The winner each year gets a large chocolate bunny as a prize.”

    Easter egg hunting is a good example of a family-based ritual that revolves around a season. Rituals like this strengthen family bonds, create shared memories, and transmit customs and cultural values from one generation to the next. The parents hiding the eggs creates this element of mystery and preparation adding to the sense of excitement and wonder the children have for Easter. The eggs themselves serve as a reward for effort and exploration, while also having folklore ties to fertility, renewal, and abundance associated with springtime festivals. The ritualized competition for the large chocolate bunny adds another layer of folklore. It creates a structure (hunt and prize) that builds excitement and anticipation for this event, making it stand out for the children. In many folk traditions repetition and structure are key to keeping a ritualized tradition like the Easter egg hunt alive.

    Ritual – Christmas Eve

    Nationality: American
    Occupation: USC Student
    Residence: Los Angeles, CA

    My informant is Catholic and his family makes a point to go to church every Christmas Eve and then have a family dinner

    Pulled from a conversation I had with my informant:

    “Every Christmas Eve we drive up to Pasadena to visit my grandma (grandpa is unfortunately not around anymore) and we all go to her church at 5pm. Then we have a family dinner at her house. We say grace and then everyone shares their favorite memory they had with someone in the room from the past year. Then we drive back home that night”

    This Christmas Eve tradition is a great example of a family-based religious ritual that blends secular and sacred elements into a meaningful experience. This ritual is considered a “calendar custom” because of it’s tie to the holiday of Christmas. This ritual tradition reinforces shared values, communal identity, and connection across generations. Going to Mass on Christmas Eve is a formal religious ritual within Catholic tradition, serving as a reminder for the family of the sacred narrative of Christ’s birth. Folklorists would call this a “ritual performance” which is a symbolic act that makes this occasion distinct from the ordinary. After Mass, the family engages in a more domestic, intimate ritual centered around having dinner at Grandma’s house. Having a shared meal itself reflects the classic folklore structure of reinforcing social bonds and fostering kinship between family members. Saying grace is a continuation of the previous religious observance but now in the home space, adding a private ritual to the previous public one. A very meaningful part of this ritual then follows, with the sharing of favorite memories. This act is a personalized, reflective practice that serves to deepens the emotional bond between the people present at the dinner. Folklorists would call this a “narrative exchange”, an oral tradition that strengthens collective memory and honors individual experiences. The drive home is a shifting period, back into ordinary time, after a structured and meaningful experience. Overall, this tradition reinforces family bonds, religious identity, and storytelling across the generations.

    Mardi Gras

    Nationality: American
    Age: 19
    Occupation: Full-Time College Student
    Residence: Los Angeles, CA
    Language: English

    I interviewed MW who is from New Orleans. Although born in Ohio, his family moved to New Orleans when he was 4 years old. This means that he was raised there.

    M talked to me about his experience with Mardi Gras and growing up in New Orleans. Every year, his family makes a big deal about going to Mardi Gras. They plan weeks ahead by buying beads and decorations for themselves. He explains that his family primarily focuses on getting green and purple beads as that’s what his dad did for his first Mardi Gras. They don’t do elaborate costumes but do have a spot that they like to go to. This year he took his girlfriend, and his parents allowed him to go out by himself instead of staying with them.

    His family seems to have a routine. They focus on the beads and not the costume portion of Mardi Gras. I think this is important to note as they have personalized Mardi Gras in a way that doesn’t prioritize what they wear. It’s also important to note that they seem to have a sacred spot where their family continuously goes. This is an example of tradition in their family. His girlfriend going also peeked my interest because when I asked him about being alone in previous years he said this is his first Mardi Gras without staying with his family. I think this symbolizes a coming of age, where now that he has a girlfriend and is more independent, his parents are allowing him to go out and explore on his own. This public ritual holds such a personalized meaning, and I’m sure it’s the same for all the families that participate in Mardi Gras.