Festivus in the news

Tired of materialistic holidays? 'Celebrate Festivus

By KAY MILLER
MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

Festivus may be the first holiday spawned by TV. Credit "Seinfeld" character Frank Costanza (Jerry Stiller), who in the Dec. 18, 1997 episode introduced "A Festivus for the rest of us!" as an alternative to the distorting materialism of Christmas.

As evidence, he recounted when he wrestled another department store customer to the ground over a Christmas doll, destroying it in the fracas.

For all of its knife-edged satire, Festivus -- officially observed Dec. 23, but also celebrated throughout the month -- struck a nerve that is still jangling eight years later. People named their cats, beer, ice cream, workout routines, even playoff seasons Festivus. One Festivus cat gave birth to a kitten named Microfestivus.

Most of all, people created their own Festivus parties, a serious case of life imitating art. With "Seinfeld" reruns in a near-continuous loop, new adherents are baptized every year.

"It's a lot of fun," says Allan Salkin, a New Yorker and author of "Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us." "But there's a statement that comes with it: 'I'm sick of you telling me what to do.' "

People are exhausted by the expectations of costly gifts, attendance at parties and the nice things they're supposed to say to people they don't like, Salkin said.

"You go into somebody's house, and they have this aluminum tree they bought four years ago, and it's incredibly ugly. You're expected to say what a beautiful tree it is, as if otherwise you're insulting who they are as people and their religion. And you're supposed to bring these people with the ugly tree a gift that costs $50."