Festivals of Ealla

The Largest Musical Events in the World

The Draconian Village of Ealla, also known as the Bardic Village for its connections with Bardic Practice, holds many Festivals throughout the year.
There is rarely a time where there is not a concert going on in the Village, but they only have three official Festivals a year as of the year 560. These Festivals are:

• The Kiljhan Festival
• Festival Ninatta
• The Festival of Sirlini

What Makes a Festival?

Festivals are different from concerts and celebrations in some particular ways. Most notably, they are competitions where musicians compete to be ranked atop the others and win a prize or title.
Aside from that, they are annual, state-sponsored festivals with donations from noble patrons from Ealla, Draconian Territory, and sometimes the entire world.
Festivals come from the Goddess Ninatta's teachings, and she even preaches of competition, saying:

"Competition breeds evolution. When you have friendly competition, you have more reason to improve.
However, one should not hate the one who wins nor the one who loses. It is for fun and for expression that we hold these Festivals. Anything more and you lose the spirit of the Festival."

— Ninatta

Vemmuxileth Kiljhan by Jarhed

Of course, one should take note of music festivals, or even just festivals without a capital F. When they have a capital F, they are these specialized celebrations. When they do not, they are average gatherings for musicians, generally just large concerts without the competitive aspect of these three Festivals.

The Kiljhan Festival

A Festival that many Eallans think is named in bad taste, the Kiljhan Festival was the pet project of the first Eallan noble, Vemmuxileth Kiljhan, as well as the first Grand Wizard, Kilprax Ildial.
Kiljhan, when offered his noble title, abandoned his post as Chief and moved to Zephys, the new capital city of the Draconians. Kilprax, however, still wanted ties between Vemmuxileth and the Eallan people, as he offered those noble titles to unite the villages.
Therefore, Kilprax suggested that Vemmuxileth sponsor a festival to ignite Eallan creativity.
What this festival entailed was the gathering of Eallan musicians to show their talent, skill, and knowledge in the realm of music.
Therefore, non-Eallans are not allowed to participate, and are only allowed to observe, which in some cases they are welcome to do. Some years, the doors are open wide and people are encouraged to watch the Festival.
Other years, this is closed off, particularly when Ealla feels it is close to war. This way, the Kiljhan Festival then serves to show off the best forces that Ealla has for the coming war, as Bardic Practice is their greatest weapon against enemy forces. To allow non-Eallans in for a Festival like that would be to reveal their secret weapons and show who the greatest threats are.

Ninatta by Jarhed

It is, like the others, competitive. Judges determine who put on the greatest show and gift them with the Semi-Noble title of "Lord of Music" with the year of the festival at the end, like "Lord of Music 496 Sirlini Glirdog." This is not an exact noble title, but instead grants them a cash prize and certain privileges in the village that are otherwise given only to nobles.

Festival Ninatta

The Festival Ninatta is an older rite, said to carry over from the Goddess of Music herself and her teachings. The Temple of Ninatta carries this rite out on the exact same day at their holy site, but they also send representatives to major musical locations around the world to carry these out in as many nations as they can.
Due to this, the Festival of Ninatta has the smallest turnout amidst all the festivals in terms of global visitors, as tourists generally go somewhere that is closer to where they come from. However, this has the largest Draconian turnout.
The reason for this is that all Draconians are allowed to participate in the Festival Ninatta. It is a national event, with the purpose being to unite a people or nation with their cultural music.
Of this, the Goddess says:

"Music is the identity of mankind, mortal or immortal. No matter your gender, your species, your beliefs, expression is key. To deny man music is to deny them the very air they breathe to live.
It is a shared cultural history, where the notes form from the hearts of the first of a people, and grow into a beautiful cacophony that is a national identity. That should not only be allowed, but should be celebrated!"

— Ninatta

Sirlini Glirdog by Jarhed

The Festival draws Draconians who wish to express themselves, but do not seek to move to Ealla or even, in some cases, have no desire to be Bards.
The largest group to come to these Festivals are Tamdian Alchemists, the rivals of Ealla, who seek to prove they can beat the Eallans at their own game.
Never once has a Tamdian won the Festival Ninatta.
Those that do win, however, are granted Eallan citizenship if they are not already Eallan. If they already are, or if they now have Eallan citizenship after winning, they are put in contact with architects to build the mansion of their dreams, gaining a plot of land on the outskirts of Ealla.

The Festival of Sirlini

The final of the major three Festivals is the Festival of Sirlini, one that only came into practice in the year 500.
Named after the first non-Draconian Chief in all of the Draconian Villages, Sirlini Glirdog or the Comedian was the Chief of Ealla from the late 490s to the 520s.
She made many laws and started many practices to allow for equality in Ealla and all villages. Not only would they be Draconian, but they would be open to everyone.
In her Festival, then, anyone would be allowed to participate. It would allow anyone to be Eallan, and anyone to express themselves.
It brings in thousands of tourists each year, the largest Festival by far due to its widespread praise from people around the world.
Of the Festival and equality in music, Sirlini said:

"Eallans are not defined by their scales, size, or ability to breathe magical breath. They are defined by their desire to express themselves. What kind of barbarians are we that we had ever denied anyone the right to that expression?"

— Sirlini Glirdog

The Festival of Sirlini, however, does not give so grand a prize as the other two. After all, Sirlini was a comedian and liked to play pranks and tricks on people. Therefore, every year, the prize is a different joke item decided upon by the judges. The most famous example is every other year Sirlini ran it, she would act as if there would be a different, better prize.
She would, however, give out a rubber chicken every time. One year she'd give a new gift, the next a rubber chicken, and this repeated every time she ran the Festival.