Star Shower Festival

Each year, harukoumu seeds fall from the branches to ground below. These seeds look like stars falling to the ground and are a beautiful sight to behold. Villages come to the trees for the first 'star shower' annually, launching a festival that lasts around a week until the majority of seeds have fallen.
The festival typically takes place at late afternoon to early evening, though festivities can happen throughout the day, as the seeds fall. Villagers gather around the tree, generally on top of the roots of tree to watch the spectacle. Of course, a great deal of festival food and drink is involved in the process.
The festival is also an important marker in a child's growing up. Birdkin children just learning to fly will attempt to catch a seed in midair (while, of course, under close watch by their parents). Some villages have competitions over who catches the most seeds, but a mainstay is that the first seed a child catches is always the most important. The seed's appearance is thought to be representative of their future and often taken as an omen. A large, brightly shining seed means a bright future, while an eaten away seed is bad luck.
Regardless of the seed's form, over the next few years the child will raise a sapling from the one they caught. A memento or weapon will be crafted from the wood of the sapling to be kept for the rest of their life.
This festival dates back thousands of years to the early days of civiliztion in the archipelago, and remains a tradition to this day.

Primary Related Location

Lemikkâgi Island