Holidays in Fenspace

[robkelk]

Many if not most Fen celebrate or commerate various 'Dane holidays - Hanukkah, Christmas, Ramadan, Solstice, Valentine's Day, Hallowe'en, and so
on. But there are also some uniquely Fennish holidays:

March (n): KandorCon Day

As much as Fenspace has an "independance day," the signing of the Articles of Convention at KandorCon is the day the 'Danelaw started taking
Fenspace seriously. Some fen treat this event the same way that the U.S. treats July 4, others don't really care.

April 13: Yuri's Night

Honours Yuri Gagarin, who was the first human in space on April 13, 1961. (This one is also celebrated by various 'Dane space agencies.)

May 4: May the Fourth Be With You Day

Sometimes called "the Warsie New Year", this is the day when the more regimented factions (especially the Warsies and the Gearheads) show off their
latest toys and their best pilots. Events include space-sports games - asteroid-avoidance races, astroball matches, zero-g gymnastics, and others - which gives
this day its second nickname of "The Fennish Olympics".

July 20: Armstrong's Day, a.k.a. Moon Day, a.k.a. Touchdown Day

Honours either Neil Armstrong, who was the first human to walk on another solar system body, or his act of setting foot on the Moon on July 20, 1969.

Any more?

-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Freddy Isnot]

There are holidays that are celebrated by specific groups.
For the Heinleinians, May 8th--the day Heinlein died--is sacred.
~Freddy Isnot
-Freddy Isnot

"You are now graduated from newbie and are just clueless. Consider that a compliment."
-Zipcode

[Norgarth]

The Trekkies probably have similar feelings about Oct 24, the anniversary of Gene Roddenberry's death.
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin

[drakensis]

The Senshi have a yearly cycle of festivals, which usually translates to a mini-convention that's mostly Senshi with a mix of visitors carried out on or above the appropriate world. There's a fair bit of in-fraction politics and a parade of all present senshi (in their transport if they don't have landing permission), but other events vary widely. The Senshi responsible for organizing each individual convention tend to be quite competitive, always trying to top their particular rivals, but they all have one special event.
January 6 - The Saturnalia (Saturn) Costumed Trick or Treating
January 27 - The Blue Ribbon (Uranus) A space race
March 6 - The Big Show (Neptune) Classical music concert/opera
April 17 - Breitenfeld Day (Mars) MultiFaith Hymns and Prayers
June 30 - The Birthday Bash (Moon) 'Formal' Ball
September 10 - The Icebreaker (Mercury) Iron Handwavium Engineering
October 22 - Double Valentine (Venus) Amateur Rock Concert
October 29 - The Time Warp (Pluto) Dance Party
December 5 - The Big Red One (Jupiter) Cooking Contest
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

[Bob Schroeck]

April 22 -- Space Day. Originally a tongue-in-cheek parody of "Earth Day", this celebration has a growing following that takes it more and more seriously. When observation isn't an outright joke, it tends to be either a day of quiet reflection or a massive party celebrating the very existence of Fenspace. (Its proximity to Yuri's Night tends to encourage the latter.)
A couple of anti-terraforming groups have attempted to hijack the holiday for their own purposes, but to date all such efforts have been shouted down.

-- Bob
---------
The Internet Is For Norns.

[Kokuten]

April 42 -- Adams' Day (Observed May 11).
The tounge-in-cheek dating of the not-very-well-observed holiday celebrating the great Douglas Adams is perfectly logical to Hitchhiker fen, who point out that April has thirty days, so April 42 would of course be May 11.
Attempts by saner fen to correct their math are usually met with a blank look and an offer of an intoxicating beverage. This holiday is celebrated with wild parties and attempts at hitchhiking. One noted celebration ended up with a fen hitching to pluto, and back, making it in time for the Invisibility Test, where Adams' fen put towels over their heads and assert that they are invisible (this is comical in direct proportion to the amount of alcohol in one's system).Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

[robkelk]

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... making it in time for the Invisibility Test, where Adams' fen put towels over their heads and assert that they are invisible (this is comical in direct proportion to the amount of alcohol in one's system).

---

One year, a fan used a 'waved thermoptic-camo towel to "win" the Invisibility Test. It was discovered later that he was actually a Nivenite, trying to blend in and failing miserably.
(Some fandoms simply don't mix well.)
Since then, all towels are inspected before use - the effectiveness of the inspection vaires with the intoxication of the inspectors...

-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[CattyNebulart]

Also banned from the contest is the helmet of invisibility, a device the professor invented for The Icebreaker holiday.
The Professor has participated in every Iron Handwavium Engineering contest held at venus to date, either as a participant or judge. He is infact responsible for the name of the holiday as there was a significant dispute to its name until after the contest during which the general view of the senshi went from 'evil mad scientist threatening humanity' to 'mostly harmless nutty proffessor', thus acting as an icebreaker.It has also been the only time the Prof has actually won the contest. (I feel the urge to write this one out as a story, does anyone want to help me? Drak? It's you who came up with the holiday afterall.)
The rather large and unwieldy device (think the telepathy helmet from back to the future) which renders the user invisible whenever a towel is draped over it. Since it does not make the towel invisible it is of limited usefullness.
As a side note July 20'th is apperently called Evoloterra, not that my source is the most reliable in the world. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evoloterra
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."