"A new holiday was born. A Festivus for the rest of us,” said Jerry Stiller as Frank Costanza in a 1997 episode of the sitcom Seinfeld.
Those few words have inspired people like Frances Wellink to celebrate that day.
"It's my favourite holiday,” said Wellink.
“Every other holiday is very commercialized- gifts, chocolates, roses. Festivus is just people. You just get together with friends, family, eat and drink and have fun."
Presents are not required at Festivus parties.
Neither are Christmas trees. Instead, there are aluminum poles.
Traditions created on Seinfeld followed religiously by many enthusiasts.
Winnipegger Mark Nelson runs a website all about Festivus and does have an aluminum pole.
"The Festivus pole is interesting because Frank Costanza has replaced a Christmas tree with a bare, unadorned aluminum pole," said Nelson.
Nelson celebrated Festivus with his family already, but couldn't let this day go unnoticed at work and uses the pole to incorporate another part of the celebration – the “Airing of Grievances."
He invites people to post their grievances on the poles.
And Festivus wouldn’t be complete without the “Feats of Strength” where some sort of fight will ensue where someone will be pinned.
In the Seinfeld episode, it was Frank Costanza who had to be pinned before the celebration was complete.
