Summerbloom Festival

For seven months, the young Jenathan had awaited the Summerbloom festival. He had tried mustering the courage to speak with Anaelisa before, whom he thought to be the fairest of them all. But the beautiful woman was always surrounded by her friends or her work, and Jenathan was a shy person.

Jenathan knew the Summerbloom festival would provide the perfect atmosphere to court Anaelisa, yet he had still some things to prepare.

In Flodeu Diomdu, the 6th month of Eferdris, there is a festival celebrated all over Western Agia. Summer Bloom Festival is the most anticipated event throughout the entire year. It is where young love meets, the flowers start to fully bloom, and life and joy seem to bloom as well.

A Day of Joy and Love

Preparations

Jenathan had been writing a poem all night to his beloved Anaelisa. He wanted to pick the sweetest berries for her, so as she enjoys nature’s sweetness, he would bestow her his words of love.

It took him some time to gather the reddest of strawberries and look for her. She was in the middle of picking cherry plums. He slowly approached and stopped in his track while listening to her friends' gossip.

Usually, the preparations for this event start a couple of days before. The people decorate the settlements with whatever they can. In larger cities, banners and cloth wimples are hung around there, while some start carving their love lanterns to give their beloved so that Irath can cast her light upon the young love to last.

The food for the feast is also being prepared. For the monasteries around Western Agia, they make the sweet berry porridge for the poor, and the bread for those attending their nearby churches’ sermons. The nobles plan their private feast and add plenty of spices and meat to the menu, just to impress other nobles.

Morning

Those who cannot afford a day off work still return to their daily routine. Those who have the day off often choose to take baths and clean themselves to be presentable for later. They pick their best clothes and wear them. Unmarried women gather flowers and wear wreaths, while married women put on their veils.

The markets open, and people look around. Some buy things to gift their beloved later. Others buy materials to produce art, and some just peruse the wares. Music is played at the marketplaces and some cannot help but dance in a circle to welcome the day of joy. A few booths sell food, and the overall smell of food and flowers is refreshing compared to the normal smell.

"Oh look, that young baker apprentice is trying his luck with Anaelisa. Surely he is going to be disappointed."

"Well, he doesn’t need to run too many times around my plum tree to eat my fruit."

"Geneise, what are you saying? That is not becoming of a lady."

"I simply meant, if she doesn’t want him, I can have him."

Jenathan felt his ears redden from overhearing their gossip.

Afternoon

Jenathan cleared his throat and asked Anaelisa to come down from the tree so that he could have a talk with her.

Slowly, she stepped onto the ground and looked at him with curiosity. Jenathan presented her with the basket filled with strawberries, which she took and started eating.

"Anaelisa, I have been wanting to court you ever since I laid eyes on you. Can I read you a poem I wrote?" Jenathan asked.
"Alas, my heart I cannot give for it belongs to another. My hand is given to this very lover. Take thy sweet berries and words to a woman who wants to be bothered."

After enjoying lunch, the young people start their courting, giving their love lanterns, which they have carved, to their beloved. Others break out into songs or read poems aloud. But these frivolous acts are not solely for young people. In some settlements, there are different creative competitions. Some have poems, others have paintings, and some even have carpentry as their main competition event.

In the middle-late afternoon, the church sermon starts, and people gather in the church to have their bread and hear the priests tell a story from the Book of Irath.

After the sermon, people gather at their respective feast gatherings to celebrate through the evening.

Evening

In the evening, those attending feasts can fill their bellies with food, wine or beer, and then clean the tables which are moved to the side, so there is room for dancing. The festivities end when no one can stand up or has gone to bed, only to wake with a searing headache and a wish that the next Summerbloom would arrive sooner rather than later since the joyous event had been great.

Jenathan sat in the corner of the barn, which held the feast. He read the poem to himself until disappointment darkened his mood and made him crumple the poem. A shadowy figure stood over him, and he looked at one of the young women he had previously overhead.

"Would you like to dance?" She asked simply, reaching out with her hand. Jenathan took it, and he enjoyed the rest of the evening with Geneise.

History

The Summerbloom Festival is probably one of the youngest festivals in Western Agia. There had always been a few local traditions when it came to courting and the first harvest of berries and fruits, but until 93 AGD there was no official celebration.

After the goddesses’ death, the people felt discouraged and depressed, and the Church of Irath felt a new festival could help heighten the spirit of their followers. They introduced the Summerbloom festival by sending an invitation to the church for blessings and stories from the Book of Irath. They had lined up a table with bread to bid their followers welcome, and sweet berry porridge was given to the poor, so their hearts could be lifted with the slight joy it could bring.

Not long after, the Irathians started to expand the festival, decorating settlements in colours, and having a feast in the evening after the church ceremony. For the commoners, it would be a feast within their community, and nobles and royals alike would have their own feast.

The dancing led to young people felt a little more amorous and saw the feast as an opportunity to court. Love letters, poems, paintings, and songs were produced and there would not be a single spot in Western Agia where the word love could not be heard.

Primary Related Location

Western Agia

Related Organizations

• The Church of Irath

Related Ethnicities

• Irathian