The Cinder Silvering

Early spring is cold in the Cinder Mountains. It isn't until the mix of mid spring flowers start to sprout that the local start to get excited for summer. When the flora start to bloom and fill the mountain air with their sweet scents, a simple breeze becomes an exhilarating olfactory experience, causing more and more cave-dwellers out into the sunlight.  
Tables of mead under tents of all colors pop up all around the plateaus.  Grills and a forges add to the spring cocktail dancing on the early summer wind. It is time for the Cinder Silvering.  
The festival begins with a dramatic reenactment of historical encounters with the supernatural. The ghosts and werebeasts of Bhuur Duune are depicted in exaggerated costumes, worn by local thespians on stilts.  They terrorize the townsfolk, mostly the youth, until the mighty heroes arrive.  The beasts are felled and the ghosts banished. The town cheers and the ale flows.  The heroes stand atop a prominent stone and address the town, reminding them in poetic meter that their weapons and armor should be silvered to fight the monsters of the night.  A hero then strikes the stone with a ceremonial hammer, thus officially starting the Cinder Silvering.  
Young smiths, trying to make a name for themselves, rush to their forges and begin crafting. They have until dawn to create their masterpiece.  It must be silvered to honor Bhuur Duune and contain at least one rune to pay respects to Hallbera - Run Mother. It is, however, paramount to have excellent craftsmanship as to honor the dwarf name. 
The city cheers while they dance and sing to local music, as the smiths work endlessly through the night.  As the smiths finish their forging, they move onto silvering and adding a rune, if they have time.  As the kegs get lighter, the crowds gets rowdier making it harder for some smiths to concentrate, while others thrive in the chaos and surge to the finish. 
As first light strikes a ceremonial shield, the artists must cease their work and prepare to be judged.  Venerated smiths form a panel and scrutinize the submissions.  This is a position of great honor and supersedes politics and petty squabbles.  There is too much respect among craftsmen, both former and current, that the winner is almost always unilaterally recognized. 
The winner is awarded the Cinder Festival Foundry until the following year's festival.  They have one year to make their name and impact known so that when they must relinquish the foundry to the next champion, they have secured a position among the industry.  If the smith hasn't been able to secure a prestigious foundry position of their own, they have failed despite being given all the resources one could hope for.