Festivus: it’s not just a holiday, but a cultural phenomenon. Festivus was made famous through the show Seinfeld (S9 E10). Since I am a huge fan of the show, I decided to turn my love into a quirky birthday party theme.
If you are unfamiliar with Festivus, this video will give you an overview of the holiday. Festivus was born after Frank Costanza (George’s dad) fought another man over a doll that George wanted for Christmas when he was a little boy. This event forever changed Frank, prompting him to proclaim “there has to be a better way.” The better way was Festivus.
A Festivus celebration must include the following activities:
- The airing of grievances
- Admiring the Festivus pole
- The feats of strength
The Airing of Grievances
“I got a lot of problems with you people, and now you’re gonna hear about it,” Frank Costanza declared at the beginning of the Festivus dinner. No Festivus celebration is complete without the airing of grievances. This exercise allows your guests to share all of the complaints that have built up over the year.
To allow my guests to express their grievances anonymously, I set up a cork board. Next to the board, I placed notecards, markers, and pins. I instructed my guests to write their grievances on the notecards and pin them to the board. It took the guests a while to get going, but by the end of the night all grievances were sufficiently aired.
Admiring the Festivus Pole
“I find tinsel distracting,” is Frank’s rationale for the Festivus pole, an aluminum pole that acts as a symbol for the holiday. Sal made our pole and I encouraged my guests to look at it and reflect on the true meaning of Festivus.
The Feats of Strength
“Until you pin me, George, Festivus is not over!” Festivus concludes with the feats of strength, a display of brawn. I modified the traditional feats of strength and offered my guests rock ‘em sock ‘em robots instead.
The Festivus Meal
Frank and Estelle Costanza are not foodies, so I went old school with the Festivus menu. For appetizers I served deviled ham on ritz crackers and shrimp cocktail. I also set out popcorn, peanuts and pretzels (“These pretzels are making me thirsty.” S3 E11)
I created a signature drink for Festivus: The Festivus Miracle. The drink can be made ahead and served from a pitcher, which makes it perfect for a party.
The Festivus Miracle (Makes 1 drink)
- 1 oz. gin
- 1 oz. aperol
- ½ oz. dry vermouth
- 2 oz. grapefruit juice
- Splash grapefruit spindrift
- Add gin, aperol, dry vermouth, and grapefruit juice to a rocks glass filled with ice. Stir. Top with grapefruit spindrift.
After watching the Festivus episode a number of times, I determined Estelle served meatloaf and mashed potatoes as the official Festivus meal. To make the meal easier to eat for a crowd, I made meatloaf meatballs. I used Ina Garten’s meatloaf recipe. I set up a mashed potato bar with bacon, two types of cheese, sour cream, and chives. The mashed potatoes were the best mashed potatoes from Gimme Some Oven.
I ended the evening with two sweets. For the party, I served a cake. The top was inscribed with “You’re supposed to serve cake after a meal.” This quote comes from the infamous marble rye episode (S7 E11). After dinner with Susan’s parents, George and Estelle are disgusted that the couple didn’t serve cake with after-dinner coffee. Frank says not serving cake is not just impolite, but “stupid.”
The cake also doubled as my birthday cake. My friends are awesome, so they actually sang happy birthday to me more than five times, sometimes using the cake, sometimes not.
I could not let my guests leave without a favor, so I gave a black and white cookie (“If people would only look to the cookie, all our problems would be solved.” S5 E13). On top of the cookie, was a sticker letting them know a donation was made in their name to The Human Fund (the charity George invents during the Festivus episode).
A Quirky Event
Throwing a Festivus party was one of my favorite events this year. I delight in all things offbeat, and Festivus certainly is that!
Khaleesi Ho says
Simply LOVE this!!! It also helps that I was able to attend. I had a Wonderful time and now have to use your meatloaf recipe!!! Thank you for being such a wonderfully fun host. Epic “Festivus, for the rest of Us”!
Nickie says
You are so welcome! I love hosting and this was one of the best parties I’ve put on. 🙂
Cindy says
This is completely hilarious! The grievances were killer! “I’m not Mexican” and “when your 10 yr old is taller than your husband.” had me roaring. You had that theme down pat! Looks like a good group got into the spirit of the party. You’re a riot!😘🎂