TNFD Party on May 7, 2024, 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Easter? I thought that already happened! Well, it depends on whom you ask. Orthodox Easter (May 5) is what you get when follow the Julian calendar for Christian holidays. Both Orthodox Easter and Commercial Easter (the one with plastic baskets, fake grass, chocolate eggs, and Peeps) are centered around the Pagan Spring Fertility Festival, Ostara, which happens at the March/Northern-Hemisphere Equinox around March 21.
When you schedule parties based on holidays that are determined by equinoxes and full moon cycles (still better than chicken entrails), it’s hard to space them out properly. Next year, Orthodox and Commercial Easter coincide, and that’s all two weeks earlier, but Mardi Gras is three weeks later and only two weeks from St. Patrick’s Day. This lunar lunacy just makes party planning so difficult.
Orthodox/Julian Christian Easter, or Pascha, as the observant call it, is celebrated by many of the countries our favorite folk dances come from, and it is considered the most important holiday of the year. It is celebrated primarily in the Balkans (Romania, Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro), Former Soviet Union (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia), Cyprus, and some Byzantine regions of North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. If we were only to do Balkan dances, it would pretty much be a normal evening of dances, minus a few. We’ll add a few more Greek dances than usual to make up the difference.
Rather than chocolates and sweets, this holiday showcases savory specialties. If you celebrate Orthodox Pascha, perhaps you will have some leftovers from May 5 to bring? Perhaps some Cinco de Mayo leftovers?
TNFD Party Protocol
- The 1st rule of TNFD Party Protocol is to have fun!
- You are encouraged, but not required, to bring a snack to share of the savory or sweet variety.
- You may bring your own alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage for yourself or to share (there’s not much participation in such at TNFD, except some around the Winter Holidays).
- TNFD will provide reusable plates, cups, and eating utensils (aka plastic silverware). Please be sure to place those in the dirty dishes tub for washing rather than in the trash.
- There will not be any major teaching on party nights, but there may be quick instructions for a party dance. For the most part, I’ll just keep spinning the hits with some breaks filled with background/table music for mingling, munching, and merriment.
