Spring Awakening – Ideas for festivals set during the Spring
Hullo, Gentle Readers. Well, we’ve hit another Freestyle Fourth Week. I thought that, since we’re finally heading into some pleasant spring weather, it might be fun to talk about spring festival ideas that you can put into your games.
Holidays were very important to the people of Medieval Europe, so it stands to reason that they would be for the folk of the various D&D worlds. Life in Medieval Europe could be difficult, and it had long, hard days of work. Festivals and holidays were an important part of their lives, offering extra respite to them, much like they do for us today.
A glance at a calendar of medieval holidays reminds us of the origins of the very word – holy day. Almost every day might be the feast day of a Christian saint. These were often times when the church might take a chance to put on “miracle plays” to teach people about important religious stories. As they grew, markets and festivals grew around the most important ones, giving rise to many of the holidays we celebrate today.
In a feudal society, the bonds of fealty would generally bind both ways and benefit both sides during holidays. A lord’s vassals might give gifts to the lord at this time, and the lord, in turn, would often provide them with a feast.
Spring festivals often have to do with planting, fertility, renewal, and the end of winter. If your campaign has deities of nature, this could be a time when their churches plan huge revels. Flowers would likely be widely used in decoration, and symbols of fertility, such as eggs and rabbits, are likely to be prominent.
If there is a feast, it’s likely to be drawn from foods that are plentiful in springtime, such as the last stores of winter, edible flowers, and spring crops like rhubarb, strawberries, artichokes, carrots, and cherries. Young animals like lambs, kids, and fawns are likely to serve as the meat course, along with various fishes.
Festivals in spring should take advantage of young people feeling the call of the spring call. Festivals dedicated to lovers would have music, dancing, courting games, and the like. The Maypole, a common feature of festivals, are, of course, one big phallic fertility dance, and a fine thing to weave into the festivals of a deity of love.
It’s easy to imagine games that burn a lot of physical energy being popular, with everyone shaking off their cabin fever. Footraces, wrestling matches, spritied dancing competitions, and perhaps even log-rolling matches depending on the culture, are likely activities. In noble houses, spring would be a prime time for tournaments, letting young knights joust the rust off of their armor. All are likely to be sacred to deities of battle and competition.
In some real medieval celebrations, people would head to the woods to cut wildflowers and greenery to bring into their homes to shake off the stale air of winter. Perhaps this is carefully regulated by druids, who make sure that the creatures that make the forest their home are not unduly disturbed.
In any case, large celebrations are likely to turn into faires. If your campaign has a “points of light” feel to it, people may only rarely travel from town to town. Several towns may attend a faire at a central location, gathering to exchange goods, news, and the like. Such times would be a fine time for young people to meet likely suitors from other communities, thus ensuring that bloodlines mix and expand. At any such faires, there are likely to be open air markets, as well as entertainers hoping to find their livelihood among a more festive crowd (and pickpockets attempting the same.)
When you consider festivals in your game, think on the various fantasy races and how they might bring their own stamp to it. Perhaps the dwarves have horns of specific metals that are blown and played in the spring, or the elves and eladrin perform a dance that weaves in and out of the Feywild. Perhaps the dragonborn host elaborate tournaments, and it’s not hard to imagine great feasts in halfling communities.
Festivals in general provide ample story opportunities for your game. Rivals can be met with non-lethal force at a tournament, or maybe someone dies at tourney, and your players are accused of murder. NPCs of all kinds might be there, ready to become mentors, apprentices, allies, or foils. Imagine a scene where the PCs pursue someone through a Maypole dance, demanding quite a skill challenge. Bards could make or break a reputation with a performance, and a thief could find his pockets a bit more full…or find themselves in the stocks, being pelted with spring vegetables.
I hope this article has given you some ideas for your own game. Now go out and celebrate in the good weather!
