Time to celebrate Festivus!

Today is Dec. 23 and you know what that means - it’s time to drag out the Festivus pole from the attic, get the family together, air your grievances, perform the Feats of Strength and maybe...just maybe...a Festivus miracle will happen.

For those that do not know, Festivus was born in a 1997 episode of Seinfeld called “The Strike.” While the main storyline features Kramer’s revelation that he has been on strike from a bagel shop for 12 years, which is why he has never had a job during the show, the part that is most remembered is Festivus. George’s father Frank explains the holiday, which he created himself, in the video below, which also includes other clips from the episode:

The episode was written by Dan O’Keefe, who told The New York Times that his father, Daniel O’Keefe, had discovered the holiday’s name in a book of obscure holidays, according to Time. O’Keefe’s father started to celebrate it in 1966 for the anniversary of his and O’Keefe’s mother’s first date, adding his own traditions to the holiday.

The New York Daily News notes that O’Keefe actually wrote his own book dedicated to the holiday, called The Real Festivus, which appears to be out of print.

FestivusWeb is an ingenious site dedicated to the holiday, detailing all aspects of the holiday for those who seriously want to celebrate.

So, when you have your meatloaf for dinner tonight, remember to air your grievances and perform the Feats of Strength and put up you aluminum Festivus pole instead of you Christmas tree!

This post was originally published on Dec. 23, 2011.

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