The Lantern Festival
Practiced only in Cirris, the Lantern Festival is a memorial day party tied into a religious holiday. The event is tied to themes of remembrance and respect for lives that have been while still cherishing life that still exists. The Cirric use lanterns and candles to exemplify this. They light hundreds of paper lanterns that are either designed to float on water or air. The lantern's slow movement away from the settlement symbolizes the dead passing from one place to the next, and if a lantern does not leave the area it is said that their spirit is still wantering the ethereal plane. Candles are places all around the outdoors, usually filling entire villages and cities with bright light that pierces the mist, a metaphor for the life still enjoyed. Most of the day is spent with other people outside, quietly thinking about the people they have lost while sharing food and drink with those they still have. Like anything to do with Cirric folk, the party is tame and usually quiet, with low murmurs telling stories of the dead. When combined with the mists of the region the floating and static lights create a hauntingly beautiful effect throughout Cirris that truly captures Cirric culture, and oftentimes people of other cultures will anchor their ship or boat near the coast to try and catch a glimpse.
History
There is no real history of the holiday, as it has been practiced in Cirris since its founding. Little has changed about the holiday over the years, with the exception of the designs of the lanterns.
Execution
The morning of the festival, all of the citizens eave their homes, having already built their lanterns in the weeks leading up to the festival. Smaller towns usually provide food in the town center or near the coastline, while citizens of cities usually form groups and have a potluck. Over the course of several hours everyone arrives, lighting candles and placing them around the area once they get there. At noon the lanterns are released, and as they float, people eat, tell stories, and watch the lanterns drift off. Many of the lanterns have been decorated or modified to look fancier, for the dual purposes of making the spectacle more interesting and allowing its owner to locate it easier once it has been released. Just after sunset, or if it looks like a storm is brewing, all candles are snuffed and brought inside for the next year's festival.
Components and tools
Even small villages have hundreds of candles stockpiled for the event, with apiaries and soybean farms are kept just to use their byproducts to create them. Paper and pigments are also used to make the lanterns, but since most families only make one or two, this is not as in demand. Food for everyone is provided by the citizens or the township, depending on local wealth and the size of the settlement.
Participants
No religious leaders or members need to attend to have a good festival, as the mere act of celebrating it brings honor to Trass.
Observance
Sometime in the first week of Stano, as it is postponed when it is raining for up to six days. If on the seventh day it is still raining, the Cirric people light candles indoors, and release their lanterns on the first dry day.
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