Birth Anniversaries

In the kingdom of Althusar, a person usually does not their birthday the actual day of the person's birth. People in Althusar recognize their birthday by the solar calendar new year. After birth, the child is seen to become one year old on the day of the new year. If a child is born on the last day of the year, they might be seen as turning one year old when they are technically only two days old.
Some people in Althusar also recognize their birthdays according the lunar calendar used in the Pre-Joining era, meaning they may recognize any given birthday twice in one year. This is especially common in the northeast and northwest provinces and among the nobility.
Though a person’s birthday is typically remembered and acknowledged in small ways by their immediate family each year, people in Althusar only celebrate certain birthdays publicly. For males, the celebrations occur on the first, tenth, twentieth, fortieth, fiftieth, sixtieth, and seventieth year. For females, the celebrations occur on the first, seventh, fourteenth, twenty-eighth, fiftieth, sixtieth, and seventieth year.
During a birthday celebration, friends and family are invited to a celebration that includes music, singing, games, and sometimes dancing. Food and drink are provided by the family and the guests. Traditional foods vary from province to province but usually include a sweet bread and fruit dishes. Flowers and fruit are the main decorations and are seen as symbols of joy, growth and prosperity. Because celebrations occur on the new year, it is not unusual for multiple birthdays to be celebrated on the same day in a community. In some towns and villages, the tradition is to travel from house to house in such cases, visiting with the birthday celebrants in order from the youngest to the oldest. In other places, a communal party will be held outdoors, usually in the village square, green patch or other publicly used space. In these cases, either the families of the birthday celebrants in a given year or an assigned figure in the village will usually be tasked with organizing the affair and ensuring the attendees bring the expected foods, drinks, and decorations. These parties may be held in the morning, afternoon or evening depending on the area and time of year. Evening celebrations will usually incorporate the new year bonfire into the birthday celebration.