The Fair Weather Festival
What is the Festival?
A celebratory festival held annually in The Island Frontier of the Vilanto Sea. At the end of the harvest season each year hundreds of families and communities gather to celebrate another year of good luck and fair weather. They gather together, to dance, play, and feast.
Food is a very important theme of the festival, with each family bringing various fresh crops, dishes, beverages, and other goods to share with the other communities. A specialty of the island people are fermented goods, and many can be found at the festival each year. Each island grows slightly different strains of crops so each communities offerings provide a distinct twist on the tastes and flavour found in the islands.
The festival is held in order to celebrate the islands past year, and the good fortune and weather they have hopefully had. The people gift each other with fresh vegetables and fruits and special fermented dishes as a show of good faith and charity. During the festival, dozens of rituals are held that include dancing, singing, and joyful performance. These rituals are done to help entertain and appease the spirits of the islands and the great volcano on Ua’eha Mountain. The islanders hope that this entertainment and gathering of good faith will sway the spirits into giving them another year of good luck.
Food at the Festival
Food is very important to this festival, every attendant of the festival is expected to bring at least one offering of food or drink. Something they have made with their own hands. Fermented dishes are very popular food at the festival; many islanders specialize in making them and often spend all year preparing them.
Most of these fermented foods are made in wax-sealed glass jars, or a covered stone bowl tightly wrapped in seaweed and rope. Many of these containers will be buried in a deep hole in order to avoid the high temperatures of the islands. Staying underground for the duration of the process allows the food to ferment under more stable conditions and temperature.
Other common foods served at the festival include roasted vegetables, honeyed fruits, cold herbal teas, and beverages made from local fruits. As the islands are relatively small, cattle is a prized commodity and is used for their dairy and rarely killed for their meat. Most islanders are actually vegetarians or eat little meat in their daily lives.
Common fermented items found at the festival
Paku Cow Yogurt
A creamy yogurt dessert, made from the milk of a local strain of cow called Paku Cows. These cows are much smaller and do not yield much meat, so they are primarily kept for their milk. Which yields a small amount of milk each day. A small portion of the daily yield is put aside and added to a jar, once the jar is three-quarters of the way filled. And likely beginning to curdle, a wild culture collected from the previous batch is added, activating its own culture growth. Then this is left for a number of days or weeks depending on the recipe. Upon completion, various items can be added to the dish like nuts, fruits, and syrups depending on taste.
Tofito Gin
An alcoholic beverage made using the fermented pulp of the bark of the Tofito Tree. The pulp is mixed with water and sugar, often this sugar is provided by several varieties of local fruit. It is then left to ferment for several months. At the end of the process, the liquid is filtered several times into a semi-translucent purple liquid. It has a sour and somewhat fruity flavour, a common variety adds in local botanicals and gives the liquor a vibrant floral aroma.
Goro Paste
A fermented root paste, more delicious than it sounds, is made from a local root vegetable common on the islands called Goro. This root is dug from the ground and is roughly the same size as an adult fist. The root is cooked in an underground fire pit for several hours until softened. The roots are then peeled and mashed into a paste. Spices and sweeteners can be added at this point if desired. It is then placed into a fermentation jar or bowl and placed in a cool spot, likely underground, and left to ferment for at least 24 hours. The paste is mildly sweet and is used as a common foodstuff due to its high caloric value. It possesses a long shelf life and can be found in most homes. A variety of different family recipes and variations exists throughout the islands.
A creamy yogurt dessert, made from the milk of a local strain of cow called Paku Cows. These cows are much smaller and do not yield much meat, so they are primarily kept for their milk. Which yields a small amount of milk each day. A small portion of the daily yield is put aside and added to a jar, once the jar is three-quarters of the way filled. And likely beginning to curdle, a wild culture collected from the previous batch is added, activating its own culture growth. Then this is left for a number of days or weeks depending on the recipe. Upon completion, various items can be added to the dish like nuts, fruits, and syrups depending on taste.
Tofito Gin
An alcoholic beverage made using the fermented pulp of the bark of the Tofito Tree. The pulp is mixed with water and sugar, often this sugar is provided by several varieties of local fruit. It is then left to ferment for several months. At the end of the process, the liquid is filtered several times into a semi-translucent purple liquid. It has a sour and somewhat fruity flavour, a common variety adds in local botanicals and gives the liquor a vibrant floral aroma.
Goro Paste
A fermented root paste, more delicious than it sounds, is made from a local root vegetable common on the islands called Goro. This root is dug from the ground and is roughly the same size as an adult fist. The root is cooked in an underground fire pit for several hours until softened. The roots are then peeled and mashed into a paste. Spices and sweeteners can be added at this point if desired. It is then placed into a fermentation jar or bowl and placed in a cool spot, likely underground, and left to ferment for at least 24 hours. The paste is mildly sweet and is used as a common foodstuff due to its high caloric value. It possesses a long shelf life and can be found in most homes. A variety of different family recipes and variations exists throughout the islands.
Kavuto
A fermented chilled coffee beverage made using an island coffee bean pod, called Kavuto, that grows in bunches on tall curved trees dotted across the islands. These beans are collected, sifted through for rotten or underripe beans, and then placed in a series of wooden boxes and covered with large palm leaves. They are kept in the shade of trees or wooden constructs to avoid overheating. Once the beans have gone threw several stages of fermentation they are removed and placed large open trays in the sun to dry out for the next several days. Once dried they are then roasted in small batches over an open fire or in a stone oven. Afterwards, they are ground into a coarse powder and steeped in vats of near-boiling water. Once the grinds have floated to the top of the water the grinds are removed. Then the hot beverage is cooled overnight, once cooled it is transferred to various jars and jugs. Often times being left to enter a secondary fermentation. This coffee is served traditionally served cooled without additives but some locals add a sweet syrup to cut away the bitter funk of the beverage. Recently an enterprising group of merchant wizards have started an ice business around the islands, which has become extremely popular. This has also created a boom for this cooled fermented coffee, as the added ice makes it even colder and refreshing in the hot sun.
A fermented chilled coffee beverage made using an island coffee bean pod, called Kavuto, that grows in bunches on tall curved trees dotted across the islands. These beans are collected, sifted through for rotten or underripe beans, and then placed in a series of wooden boxes and covered with large palm leaves. They are kept in the shade of trees or wooden constructs to avoid overheating. Once the beans have gone threw several stages of fermentation they are removed and placed large open trays in the sun to dry out for the next several days. Once dried they are then roasted in small batches over an open fire or in a stone oven. Afterwards, they are ground into a coarse powder and steeped in vats of near-boiling water. Once the grinds have floated to the top of the water the grinds are removed. Then the hot beverage is cooled overnight, once cooled it is transferred to various jars and jugs. Often times being left to enter a secondary fermentation. This coffee is served traditionally served cooled without additives but some locals add a sweet syrup to cut away the bitter funk of the beverage. Recently an enterprising group of merchant wizards have started an ice business around the islands, which has become extremely popular. This has also created a boom for this cooled fermented coffee, as the added ice makes it even colder and refreshing in the hot sun.
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Where is the Festival Held?
Every year a new island is chosen as the festivals home, with a different family or community acting as host. At the end of the current years festival, the following year's host is announced. Giving the next year’s host plenty of time to prepare for the next year's celebrations. It is considered a grand honour to host one of these festivals.
Once every five years, the festival is held in Obsidian Harbour and is a much larger event. Instead of a one-day event, the festival turns into a week-long marathon celebration.
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