Festivus 2026 is on Wednesday

About Festivus

Festivus pokes fun at the pressure and spending of the December holidays. In the version most people know, friends or family share a dinner, stand an undecorated aluminum pole where a tree might go, take turns telling each other how they have been let down over the past year, and finish with feats of strength, a mock wrestling match. Small, easily explained coincidences during the evening are jokingly declared Festivus miracles.

The holiday is older than the sitcom that made it famous. The writer Daniel O'Keefe, a longtime Reader's Digest editor, started it in his own family in 1966, originally to mark the anniversary of his first date with his wife. The tradition changed as the family grew. According to his son, the real version had no pole, its odd symbols included a clock in a bag nailed to the wall, and it did not fall on a fixed December 23 the way the television version does.

That son, Dan O'Keefe, became a writer on Seinfeld and brought the idea to the show. The episode "The Strike," credited to O'Keefe with Alec Berg and Jeff Schaffer, aired on December 18, 1997, during the series' final season. In it, Frank Costanza explains that he invented Festivus after a fight with another shopper over a doll, wanting a December holiday free of commercialism. Since then fans have thrown Festivus parties every year, and an activist has even put up Festivus poles at state capitols during the holiday season.

Sources: History.com: What Is Festivus? The Origins of the Seinfeld Holiday, FOX 7 Austin: Festivus from Seinfeld has its roots in a real holiday a writer's dad invented. How we check dates.

How to mark Festivus

• Host a low-key Festivus dinner and stand a plain pole, such as a broom handle or curtain rod, where a tree would go.
• Hold a gentle airing of grievances: everyone names one small annoyance from the year, then one thing they appreciated.
• Swap the wrestling for safer feats of strength, such as arm wrestling, a plank contest or a board game showdown.
• Watch the Seinfeld episode "The Strike" with friends and spot which customs have crossed over into real life.
• Keep a running list of the night's Festivus miracles and read it out before everyone goes home.

Festivus dates