Bright Moon Crossing Festival

The first Terrans to arrive on Chatau’s Landing were quite enamoured when they realised they would be blessed with the strange site of two moons hanging in the night sky. Even more so when they witnessed their first ‘bright moon crossing’ (Every 8 months, the two moons above Chatau’s Landing intersect. This causes the one in front to give off a bright blue-ish glow, reminiscent of a clear sky back on Terra). When the event kept recurring, they decided to start a celebration to honour it.

The celestial event only last for around 3 hours during the night but that doesn’t stop the Terrans from making a fantastic day or two out of their celebrations.

The Meaning Behind the Festival

Some of those first jumpers, such as Astrid Ziegler, wanted to ascribe a bit more meaning to the festival beyond ‘something scientific happened, lets drink’.

Because of the tint of the moon during this time being the same (or close enough) to the colour of a clear Terra sky, they linked it back to their home. A remembrance of their shared roots. With the sky above Chatau’s Landing having more of a purple hue, it was nice to have a little reminder of their original home.

Changes Over the Years

Not everything can stay the same. With the growing rivalry between Sol-Terrans and Tau-Terrans, that ‘remembrance’ of their roots morphed into something else. The crossing of the moons meant change, and as they passed the Tau-Terrans on Chatau’s Landing deemed it necessary to move on from the past, rather than cling to it.

Celebrating the Festival

During the festival, the Terrans do what they do best. Eat buffets, drink until they're merry, and party into the early hours of the next day. Bonfires and fireworks light up the night sky, whilst a feast is held at lunchtime on the day of the event.

Since the actual crossing doesn’t typically occur until late at night, festivities such as games and artistic activities suitable for children are put on throughout the afternoon and early evening. Some parents allow their children to stay up (if they can manage to stay awake for it), whilst others will put their children to bed and opt to record some of the late night festivities instead.

During the evening, nowadays Terrans will burn something old on one of the communal bonfires to use as their symbol of moving forwards. Within reason, of course - the communal bonfires are highly regulated and have a lot of security because people have lacked common sense with this festival in the past. There is also live entertainment, particularly in higher density populations, where music etc. is played until well into the early hours of the morning.

It is so vastly celebrated throughout Chatau’s Landing that it has become a holiday in its own right. Terrans (and none Terrans, but there aren’t exactly many of those on Chatau’s Landing) are giving the day off work to celebrate. Some employers off-world may also extend the same benefit to their own employees so that they may visit Chatau’s Landing for the festival.

Intergalactic Terran Initiative

Fleet Command - Personal

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Earth Date [2775]
Universal Galactic Date [5314]

Digital Signature [GENERAL ASTRID ELISABETH ZIEGLER]
Digital ID [ITIN-FCo GEN-AZER-86612]

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[START TRANSMISSION]

Another 8 long months on Chatau’s Landing.

God, normally I’d be out there with everyone else enjoying the festivities. A drink in hand. Smiling, laughing. Feels like I’ve not done that since… well, since the concordat…

Feels like those damned moons are taunting me. “Look at us” - and how can I not? Because every other damned person on this planet is - “we get to sit amongst the stars!” But me? I'm stuck down here, watching everyone pass me by, desperately trying to salvage whatever I can from this fucked up situation with the Federation.

Oh how I miss being a captain. Hell, how I miss being home… heh, guess that’s what I get for volunteering to be a pioneer across intergalactic space…

At least I get this reminder, I suppose. If I look up at the sky, one day every eight months, I can pretend I’m back on Earth, looking up at our moon... If I just ignore all the stars around them… I can pretend I’m home...

[END TRANSMISSION]
[FILE UNDER Private]

Primary Related Location

Chatau's Landing

Related Ethnicities

• Tau-Terran

Behind the Name

‘Bright Moon’ is a reference to the appearance of the moon in front, or the ‘primary’ moon. Terrans wanted to avoid calling it a ‘blue moon’ as the term was already in use on Earth. That said, it did spark some debate - and even a petition - on whether the original ‘blue moon’ term should be changed, but nothing came of it. ‘Crossing’ obviously comes from the fact that the two moons cross over one another.

This is strictly the name used for the festival. The scientific name - cLan-M1 cLan-M2 Convergence - didn’t seem like a good name for a festival. Not to the Terrans, anyway.