International Food Day

International Food Week is a festival celebrated in almost everywhere in the world. It is celebrated during the first two weeks of Silan as a tribute to the Harvest of 1003, the year when Acciphere was finally lifted out of its decade-long famine. Processions go on in the night till the next day morning. Many people participate in this festival and take on fun activities all night. Many restaurants also give a half-off offer this week, since it is considered bad to leave a person hungry during this week.

History

It all started in 993. The year itself was very bad for farmers. Acid rain killed most of the crops right before harvest. This put all the farmers who lost their crops at risk; they were poor with absolutely no money in hand. This made the price of wheat rise so rapidly that it was double the price after a week people got to know about the bad harvest. Perhaps the people who got affected the most were the peasants. They didn't have enough money to buy food in the market, so many of them died from pure hunger. The rich were affected too, but they were only economically set off because of the high prices. Some of these rich people were heartbroken, so they donated food for the peasants in their homelands. As such, the government also started programmes to help out the poor. The year that was to come was even worse.
This time a lot of animals died as well, after not getting proper food for two years straight. People suffered a lot, and this time even the rich were in such a state that they could only eat bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The poor died in millions, ranking the pandemic at the deadliest position. The next year there was an okay harvest, but that wasn't even the problem anymore. A new disease had started, and it was nicknamed 'Zombie Fever' after how its symptoms included seizure. The Zombie Fever spread all around the world in five years, killing three-quarters of the world. The Garfaxin Kingdom was affected the most, with zombies jumping off tall trees and attacking healthy people.
But finally, after 10 years of constant repentance, the scientists (the ones who survived) found a cure and saved the world. The week that they finally recovered is now celebrated as the International Food Week.

Execution

The festival starts at night and ends in the early morning every day in the week. Each day, a particular food is worshipped and taken all around the city centres. The streets the food palanquin is going to visit are cleaned and decorated with the banners of that kingdom. The procession usually starts in the city square and ends at the same place. After the food procession is over many games are conducted all over the city square. Some notable games are Throw the Hoop and Dumpling Disaster. But the main fun starts at midnight. As the next day starts, everyone lights a lantern, illuminating the whole sky. The colour varies each day by the colour of the fruit/vegetable that was carried in the procession.

Components and tools

Many components and tools are required to conduct International Food Week.The most important ones are:

• A palanquin
• Lots of food (it IS called the International Food festival)
• Fireworks
• Coniferous trees (using them has been a tradition since the very beginning)
• Lot of illumination
• Coloured lanterns
• Fun!

Observance

The festival starts in the late evening, maybe right after the sun sets and continues until the sun rises. When the sun rises, everyone decides to end the festival, so everyone is assigned duties to clean up the city square.