Seinfeld & Festivus

Matthew Keefe, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

There is already an excellent website on Festivus — Festivusweb.com — so why did we even bother? Well, in addition to being an all in one guide to how to throw your own Festivus, this page also doubles as resource for hosting the Seinfeld theme party of your dreams.

But, if it makes you angry that we made this page, and you need a time and a place to let that be known — boy do I have good news for you!!

  1. The Airing of Grievances

  2. The Festivus Dinner

  3. The Feats of Strength

  • There is The Festivus Miracle which can occur at anytime, and in fact should occur multiple times throughout the night.

  • There is The Human Fund which is a fake charity George Costanza made up to avoid buying people a real Christmas gift. Make sure all your guests receive a card letting them know “a donation was made in their name” to this very fake Charity. We have options in our Decorations & Invitations section.

  • The Airing of Grievances and Feats of Strength are covered in our Games section; Festivus Dinner in our Menu section.

What to Watch & When

For Festivus

Festivus is typically a dinner party, but you can build it around watching something before or after, or not at all. The obvious choice for something to watch is “The Strike” — the episode of Seinfeld where Festivus made its debut: Season 9, episode 10.

All episodes of Seinfeld are currently on Netflix. They’re formatted for widescreen TVs, so if you want to watch the episode as it originally aired, pick up Season 9 on DVD or get the whole series on Bluray or DVD. You can also find Seinfeld on Amazon, Apple TV+ or Google Play.

Since Festivus is the non-secular, anti-consumerist antidote to Christmas, you could watch a movie that reflects that sentiment such as:

For a Seinfeld Party

December 23 is the date Festivus is generally celebrated, but it can held it any time of year.

For a list of important dates featured on Seinfeld check out this post on Reddit. Some other key days include:

  • January 13: Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Elaine) Birthday

  • April 29: Jerry Seinfeld (Jerry/Co-Creator) Birthday

  • May 14, 1998: Seinfeld final episode airs (30th Anniversary 2028)

  • June 8: Jerry Stiller (Frank Costanza) Birthday

  • July 2: Larry David (Co-Creator/Writer) Birthday

  • July 5, 1989: Seinfeld first episode airs (40th Anniversary 2029)

  • July 24: Michael Richards (Kramer) Birthday

  • September 23: Jason Alexander (George) Birthday

  • December 18, 1997: “The Strike,” featuring the first appearance of Festivus on Seinfeld, airs (30th Anniversary 2027)

  • December 23: Kramer asks H&H Bagels for this day off to celebrate “a Festivus, for the rest of us!”

Pre-Show Entertainment

Audio

Here’s a list of Festivus themed songs we found on Spotify (or go to Festivus Web for carols you can sing).

You could play songs that reflect Festivus’s anti-commercial spirit:

There are some fun Seinfeld themed playlists out there. This one has a list of songs featured on the show:

Some people made playlists based on character vibes: Jerry, Elaine, George.

You could play songs from the era the show aired: 1989-1998.

DJ Seinfeld has nothing to do with the show… but if that’s your vibe, giddy up!

If you want to go insane, you can play the soundtrack from the show: “Bwomp-bwomp... BWAH duh-duh DUNH, doo duh DUNH, bwop bwop bwop—Zzzzrrrp!”

Visual

We put together some Seinfeld related clips you can watch. Nothing really from the show. Rated M for Mature:

Other Options

Menu

The Festivus Dinner from “The Strike” was meatloaf on a bed of lettuce.

Some believe the traditional meal should be spaghetti because when the show originally aired it was hard to tell what was being served based on the quality of the video.

Dan O’Keefe (the Seinfeld writer of “The Strike” who’s father invented Festivus) and his family would eat ham, turkey, beef stew, lamb chops and pecan pie as mentioned in his book.

Seinfeld: The Official Cookbook features a lot, if not most, of the food mentioned on the show.

Read a sample of it here.

We split this up into 2 sections: The Festivus Dinner, and Food From the Show.

The Festivus Dinner

Get Festivus themed labels here.

Chris06, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Dessert

Pepperidge Farm Cake with M&M’s

Drinks

Flask (With Some Kind Of Alcohol)

There is no official Festivus drink, but since Mr. Kruger drank from a flask during Festivus Dinner in “The Strike,” why not buy some flasks for your guests (or have them bring their own) and fill it with your beverage of choice. Buy Flasks here:

8 pcs Flask

Happy Festivus Flask

FESTIVUS™ for the Rest of Us Flask

Foods Featured on Seinfeld

For an incomplete list with descriptions, visit here and here.

Each food links to a recipe or place to buy.

Some recipes are from the Official Seinfeld Cookbook, some are from Jessica Seinfeld’s website, the rest we found online.

Check out this Seinfeld Food References Poster to display with dinner.

Seinfeld themed food labels can be downloaded here. Or display the menu in a Monk’s menu replica.

Chris06, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

star5112, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Appetizers

Mattsjc, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Games

Festivus begins with The Airing of Grievances and ends when The Feats of Strength are completed.

The Airing of Grievances

“At the Festivus dinner, you gather your family around, and tell them all the ways they have disappointed you over the past year!”
— Frank Costanza

The Feats of Strength

  • Again, Festivus Web has a great guide on how to handle The Feats of Strength.

  • If you and your guests would classify yourselves as “novice to intermediate athletes” and want to compete in a Crossfit event, consider hosting or participating in the Festivus Games.

  • As an alternative to physical “Feats of Strength,” play the Festivus Board Game, Festivus Trivia or any of these other games at Festivus or your Seinfeld theme party:

“Until you pin me, George, Festivus is not over!”
— Frank Costanza

Decorations & Invitations

For Festivus

Invite people to Festivus the old fashioned way by mailing a card. You can simply say: “Dear [name], Happy Festivus.” and include the date and time of your party.

The Human Fund is an important part of “The Strike,” so consider including a note that you have made a (fake) donation in your guest’s name when you mail the cards, or hand it to them as they arrive.

For Festivus, an aluminum pole is the only decoration you need. Decorating the pole goes against everything Festivus stands for. Especially tinsel. Do not use any tinsel. Some people find it distracting. You can get your pole at:

To some, decorations on Festivus are an anathema (they don’t like it), but here’s some options:

Kitchenware

Decor

The original Festivus as created by the father of Seinfeld writer Daniel O’Keefe involved a bag and a clock or a clock in a bag. Why? “It’s not for you to know!”

For a Seinfeld Themed Party

Kitchenware

Decor

Posters & Prints

Costumes

Additional Resources

Disclaimer:

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