Gossamer

Gossamer is what one could call the New Year's celebration. Only, it is celebrated for a week with a lot of drinks, music, and communal festivities. It is the final opportunity to celebrate that year.  For the common folk, it is a week of overindulgence and free time. Streets are filled with vendors, music, and shows to enjoy. For one week they don't need to worry about anything else but themselves.

History

The tradition of Gossamer is ancient. It has been celebrated in Norde for over a millennium. Its roots lie in the start of the harvest season and the beginning of the winter.  The name comes from a lot northern than Wildermoore when Gossamer marks the autumn storms that bring snow. For southern parts, it is mostly just an excuse to celebrate for a week and have people take part in religious festivities for once.

Execution

Gossamer starts with a lot of cleaning. It is a custom to clean and fix everything possible in your life, to rectify mistakes of the past year, and to make amends. It is the start of a new year and no one wants to carry their mistakes to the next year.  While the festivities officially start as Gossamer begins, people join in on them as they finish with cleansing. Commonly it takes a couple of days.  As the festivities truly start, bathhouses fill up with rowdy, joyful people ready to wash the last year off them. In Syrilis, river Lance is filled with boats that help people to wash up in the clear, fresh river water. People wear flower crowns, dance in the streets, and fill their bellies with food of the last year.  Often Gossamer is the season of great discounts, as well. Craftsmen are ready to sell their old designs for a cheaper price.  It is a common belief that the rowdier Gossamer gets, the better it is for the next year. Mead flows freely and people are ready to raise their voices 'for the greater luck'.

Components and tools

Because the festival is all about getting clean, bath products and cleaning supplies are in great demand. Services to fix broken things and people to give public apology speeches in behalf of someone are also highly popular. 
Older drinks, meads, and meat are also consumed. 
Different religions have different cleansing rituals with different component but not all take part in those.

Participants

There are a few bigger ceremonies performed in the bigger cities, especially Syriles that are worth attending. One of them is the Royal Clothing Airing. On the first day of Gossamer, the fanciest of the clothes and fabrics are brought out of the Royal Castle to air in the fresh air. Common folk often come to look at the beautiful clothing and buy clothes for themselves from the smart sellers setting up shop there. 
The nobility all gather in Syrilis to throw a great ball on the two final nights of the Gossamer. It is an event for only those with significant social status and a great way to make new deals for the upcoming year.

Observance

It is always on the last week of the month of Dust.