Holiday Scenes That I Love: Festivus Dinner From Seinfeld (NBC, 1997)


Again, Happy Festivus!

This scene is from The Strike episode of Seinfeld.  Believe it or not, it is based on a true story.  Scriptwriter Dan O’Keefe, who wrote this episode, grew up celebrating Festivus, a holiday that was created by his father.  In the real Festivus, the aluminum pole was replaced by a clock that O’Keefe’s father would put in a bag and nail to a wall.  To quote O’Keefe:

“The real symbol of the holiday was a clock that my dad put in a bag and nailed to the wall every year…I don’t know why, I don’t know what it means, he would never tell me. He would always say, ‘That’s not for you to know.'”

Enjoy!

Happy Festivus!


Happy Festivus!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Monday is Christmas. But today is a Festivus for the Rest of Us! How will you celebrate Festivus? Will you air your grievances or participate in the feats of strength? Festivus may not be for everyone but, for some of us, it’s our heritage.

If you need a reminder about what Festivus is all about, allow Frank Costanza to explain:

Here’s wishing you a merry little festivus!

Happy Festivus!


Happy Festivus!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Monday is Christmas. But today is a Festivus for the Rest of Us! How will you celebrate Festivus? Will you air your grievances or participate in the feats of strength? Festivus may not be for everyone but, for some of us, it’s our heritage.

If you need a reminder about what Festivus is all about, allow Frank Costanza to explain:

Here’s wishing you a merry little festivus!

Happy Festivus!


Happy Festivus!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Saturday is Christmas. But today is a Festivus for the Rest of Us! How will you celebrate Festivus? Will you air your grievances or participate in the feats of strength? Festivus may not be for everyone but, for some of us, it’s our heritage.

If you need a reminder about what Festivus is all about, allow Frank Costanza to explain:

Here’s wishing you a merry little festivus!

Happy Festivus!


Friday is Christmas.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.

But today is the most important holiday of all!

Happy Festivus!  It’s 2020 so you better believe I’ve got a lot of grievances to air!  But they’ll wait until after the aluminum pole goes up and after we’ve had our Festivus dinner.  Some people say that the Feats of Strength are more important than the Airing of Grievances but I say the grievances should always be at the center of any Festivus celebration.

If you need a refresher course on the origins of Festivus, listen to Frank Costanza (Jerry Stiller, RIP):

Enjoy your Festivus dinner.  Let the people in your life know how the have let you done.  And who knows?  Maybe you’ll even experience a Festivus miracle because this is Festivus for the rest of us!

Happy Festivus!

Happy Festivus!


Get out your aluminum pole!

Make your list of grievances!

Prepare for the feats of strength!

Today is a Festivus for the rest of us!

22 years ago, the world, or at least the part of the world that was watching Seinfeld at the time, learned about Festivus, the joyous holiday created by Frank Constanza.  What many people did not realize at the time was that Festivus was a real holiday, albeit one celebrated by only one family.  The writer of the episode and the man usually credited with creating Festivus, Dan O’Keefe, first celebrated Festivus in 1966.  It was a holiday created by his father, the journalist Daniel O’Keefe and it was initially meant to celebrate the elder O’Keefe’s first date with his future wife, Deborah.

Of course, in the world of Seinfeld, it was created to celebrate Frank Costanza beating up another Christmas shopper.

Regardless of why you’re celebrating today, a Happy Festivus to all!

Happy Festivus!


Today is a Festivus for the rest of us!

Traditionally, this is when I would start the airing of grievances but this is 2018 and I wouldn’t know where to start.  Instead, let us skip straight to the feats of strength and remember, Festivus is not over until you pin a loved one.

Happy Festivus!