Autumn Harvest Festival
Autumn is the harvest season, the point when the most food is available and when it's time to begin preparations for winter. It seems only logical that the people of Cynia would want to celebrate the first day of harvest. This festival is celebrated moreso by farmers and the inhabitants of villages and small towns than it is by city-folk.
Even though the festivities don't officially begin until afternoon, everyone wakes early to prepare for the day. Children are sent out to collect the first berries of the season while adults begin setting up large cauldrons and bringing out their stores from the smaller summer harvest. The local carpenters begin bringing out their wares and the village square is done up for preserving all the perishable foods they can make.
The women all take turns at the cauldrons, making jams, pickles, and other preserves, while the children are sent to harvest all the crops that are ready to add to the pots. Women not stirring the cauldrons are kept busy in their home kitchens, cooking foods for the great feast held as the sun descends in the sky. The men typically spend the day competing to see who has the best carpentry skills or taking the young men who've recently come of age on their first hunting trips. Those who complete their hunts successfully bring the fresh meat home to preserve for winter.
As the sun descends to the horizon, the villagers gather together to enjoy the harvest feast. A large bonfire is then built on the edges of the village to burn the wood scraps from the carpentry competition and deadwood found in the nearby forests. It's said that the light of the fire keeps away the things that lurk in the autumn fog, and it provides enough light for dancing and fireside stories. The bonfire is not fed, so the festival ends when the fire burns out and all that's left are the glowing embers.
Observance
The Autumn Festival is held every year on the first day of the first moon of Autumn. Usually beginning in the afternoon, the festivities are held until almost midnight when the bonfires burn out.
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