Festival of the Fronds

### Celebrations/Practices

Large communal feasts, scientific debate, technological expo, gift-giving, and (historically, pre-1906) crowning new Councilors

### Prevalence

International

> What can better represent Airolia's hospitality than the Festival of Fronds? [...] Such dignity and festivity ... the halcyon days of their empire.
>
> Unknown Kherfiyyan ambassador, 1500s

One of the most famous and long-lasting Airolian traditions, the **Festival of the Fronds**, often shortened to just the **Festival**, has deep roots in Liamist beliefs; the week of festivities was originally to celebrate the arrival of the peak season in which to grow pineapples (for the metropole, that is), a very important event to the faith. Feasts would be held, scholars would come from across the empire, red or blue, human or elf, and occasionally even respected non-Liamists. Diplomats and envoys from other empires would arrive to forge treatises during the period of jubilation, and often even the new Council members would be decided during the final days of the Festival. Over the course of centuries, however, the Festival of the Fronds has morphed; often, its overt religious implications were lessened in favor of simple unity, intellectualism, and the sharing of culture.

Many of Airolia’s colonies would eventually adopt the Festival as a local tradition, albeit often somewhat edited and with the date changed to line up with the local seasonal transitions rather than the metropole’s. These were still of great importance to many, though none were ever quite as well-respected or frequented as the Imperial Festival, held in the cities of Idigon, Lucianstadt, and several other major cities in the metropole; the city in which it would take place rotated yearly. Just before the waning years of Airolia’s empire, many Helinskan governors and even Lemet Alerio II were adamant and dogged in their campaign to make Lyrinae a site for the Imperial Festival, which was met with general displeasure and disapproval from the rest of the Council, aware of the already-waned influence of the mainland in comparison to some of its colonies, especially Helinska, and unwilling to give up what little they had left.

The outbreak of war against the Polmarian Triumvirate and Holy Monarchy of the First Son in 1905 postponed the matter temporarily, but the Cataclysm and subsequent abandonment of Helinska shelved the matter indefinitely. Today, not even the Imperial Festival is as lavish, joyous, or even as much of a hub of knowledge as a colonial Festival of the late-1800s, and no colonial Festival today can stand up to the old Festivals of Lyrinae under Airolian rule, which were complete with funding from and the official endorsement of the prestigious Eirboro Academia Hall, named after and founded by famed inventor Nathaniel Eirboro, the man who discovered Eirborum and revolutionized air travel permanently.

Even despite its decline in religious reverence, prevalence, prestige, and some might even argue quality, the Festival of the Fronds remains a highly important part of Airolian culture and history, and regardless of how secular Airolia may become in the future, it will likely yet remain in a highly changed form simply due to its unrivaled historic precedent and the sheer amount of admiration many have for it– perhaps, however, that may be due to the feasts included within the festivities.