Korpfest

Korpfest
Observed by	Blostland, Eldmark, and Keppland
Type	National
Celebrations	Parades, food, music, drinking, church service
Date	October 30th
Frequency	Annual

Korpfest or Ravenfest is a national Blostlandic holiday that is held annually on October 30th in Blostland and the greater Blostsphere, it is observed during the liturgical period dedicated to remembering the dead and the martyred. It is also related to ancient Blostlandic pagan festivals and has many references to the ancient Vættir, with its name deriving from the most important of these spirits, the Raven.

Korpfest activities include Parades, Beer Festivals, Costume parties, souling, lighting bonfires, church attendance, horror movies and pranks. While the holiday has strong spiritual roots and is often a time when people visit the graves of the dead to light candles and give gifts, there is also a strong secular part of the holiday which is often practiced at home or in festivals. While Korpfest is often hosted by local churches in recent years local governments have taken up the responsibility, leaving more of the traditional activities to the church and those who choose to attend them.

History

Ancient Roots

The roots of Korpfest are found in the ancient beliefs of the Blostlandic Pagan religion, while large parts of the religion are not well documented the roots of Korpfest are some of the best preserved traditions. For example it is recorded in a number of texts that the ancient Blost would dress in ceremonial costumes and carry out sacrifices with bonfires around the 30th of October to celebrate the winter solstice, these sacrifices were done with the hope that the spirits would be pleased and in return would protect the Blost during the harsh winter.

While the Blost had a number of spirits they prayed to, the most important of them all was the Raven, as the Blost considered them to be closest related to the creator deity, Friðill. For this reason the raven would become a major symbol of the holiday with the Korp Blot being the largest sacrifice made at the very beginning to kick off the rest of the celebrations.

Solarianization

Around the 1200s when Blostland was Solarianized under King Isak II, Korpfest would be bitterly suppressed, all traditions associated with the holiday would be made illegal and those found practicing them would be punished brutally.

By the time of King Bo the Merciful in 1319 however these laws would be changed and Korpfest would become much more similar to how it’s practiced today, it is noted by historians that the legalization of Korpfest helped improve Solarianization significantly with the new Solarianized version of the holiday serving as a easy way to convert more people peacefully.

With its Solarianization Korpfest would gain new traditions implemented by the royal government and the church, these traditions would include guising and attendance at mass. However pagan traditions like costumes and the reverence of the dead would be held on to though their explicit relation to paganism would be scrubbed from history by church authorities in Blostland.

Modern Day

By the 20th century Korpfest would become increasingly secular following the cultural shift of the Blostlandic Spring which would reintroduce many ancient traditions from Blostlands past back into the mainstream, this alongside the decline of religious conservatism would bring a rise of new traditions outside of the ones practiced during the 1200s.

Partying including the presence of beer festivals would become a staple of the holiday, a less religious version of guising would become the standard, and more explicit pagan elements would be reintroduced. By the 21st century the holiday would be commercialized and practiced by almost every Blostlandic person on the island, while it’s much different from its traditional counterpart it still holds much of its roots and shows no sign of going in the Blostsphere.