My family, my clan, do not celebrate mid-Winter like so many of our fellow Minmatar. We come from a warm world, and live near the equator at that, so Winters are not particularly long or harsh.
There are two major festivals on Onga IV, and both relate to the major events of the agricultural year; planting and harvesting. They are celebrations of life and of family, of youth and love, of growing old with those you care about, and the satisfaction of a job well done and a life well lived.
These festivals usually take place over several weeks, with a whole range of performances, parties, parades, and other suitably thematic events. However, as well as being a time of celebration, they are also probably the Clan’s period of hardest work for the whole year.
There is one more “holiday” tradition we follow, although it is not treated in the same way as the others at all. While technically a celebration, the performing of the Voluval is often a serious, tense affair. Our Clan is not large, so we don’t have enough young ones to require a Voluval ceremony every year, but when it does take place the surrounding Clans for hundreds of miles will come to our home to lend their support. And to see the results for themselves of course.
It is very, very, very rare that a mark of ill omen does appear, but the possibility is enough to make everyone nervous. The mood of the ceremony lifts to an almost frantic, whirling, joyous celebration once it is complete. It’s really something special to see. Many of our eligible men and women find each other on this night. Some of these relationships last lifetimes, and serve to strengthen our bonds of friendship with the neighbouring clans.
It is a strange and wonderful night, and even as a capsuleer, I make sure I attend every Voluval that my clan takes part in.