Like any world, Riterra has its fair share of holidays and important events that occur over the course of the year.
January 1st - New Year's Day
The first day of the year, and a major holiday. People spend time with their friends and family and generally relax after the prior night's festivities.
January 20th - The Festival of Hope
It's a day where friends and family get together and exchange presents. There is also a celebratory meal where it is usually tradition to bring a dish that is the favorite of one of the attendees or one that is requested beforehand. A common farewell to hear around this time is "I wish your desires end!". The patron sage of this holiday is Sahji, the Wish Sage.
February 15th - Lunar New Year
Like the traditional new year, this day is the celebration of the Lunar New year. Most people on earth ignore this celebration, except Lunar Resonators and their maestros. In recent years, Lunar Maestros and Resonators have been given time off of work on this day, earning the ire of older, non-Lunar workers.
March 30th - Coalition of the Noble Swords
This is less of a holiday and more of a historical observation. This was the day that the Noble Swords banded together to raise an army against the invading Naturals. This is a day of mourning among Natural populations since most historians agree the Second Great War was the major turning point that caused the Natural population went on the decline.
April 21st - Unity Day
This is a government holiday celebrating the unification of the world government and the establishment of a world-wide peace. All professional battling is forbidden on this day simply because it goes against the message of the holiday. It's not uncommon for people to shoot off fireworks and have elaborate meals during this day. This day used to be a Quireh Empire holiday known as "Founder's Day" which celebrated the founding of the city of Quiretteh, however in the years following the end of the World War, protests would erupt every Founder's Day, which led to the Quireh Empire rebranding the day as one of peace and prosperity.
May 4th, 5th, & 6th - The Festivals of Land, Sea, and Sky
A major springtime holiday which celebrates the planet that we call home. The celebrations are very conscientious about being as clean as possible. The festivities break down as follows:
- May 4th the Sky Festival - The day to appreciate the majesty of the sky and the atmosphere that holds it in place. During this day most people spend outside, and a common practice is to sleep under the stars that night. An old belief says that a land covered by clouds during the Sky Festival will have bad luck until the next Sky Festival. A more modern superstition is that if you travel by plane during this day, the Sky Sage himself with strike you down (despite his insistence that he won't). The patron sage of this holiday is Cielto, the Sky Sage
- May 5th the Sea Festival - The day that celebrates the sea and all other bodies of water. This day sees a large number of people flocking to beaches, lakes, rivers, etc. However, it's bad luck to do anything that would harm the sea during this time, so people are very careful to do anything that would pollute the sea such dumping waste into the water. Fishermen also believe that catching fish and keeping them is bad luck on this day, so they will only catch and release instead. The patron sage of this holiday is Marovo, the Sea Sage.
- May 6th the Land Festival - The final day and the day to give thanks to the planet that bears the burden of life. It's custom for a family to plant a new tree. Back in ancient times, this would be a seed specifically nurtured throughout the year by the family and finally planted during the festival. Nowadays its acceptable to adopt a seedling from a nursery in preparation for the Land Festival. The patron sage of this holiday is Lanvi, the Land Sage.
May 31st - Sage Luca's Blessing
Although not a traditional holiday, Sage Luca's day is a day where many single boys and girls work up the courage to confess their love. It's considered good luck to get a reciprocal as the relationship is said to have the "Blessing of the life sage himself". Rejections on this day are actually lighter than other times of the year, the common thing to say being "Thank you Luca for sparing my heart." since one of the teachings of Luca himself is not to love for superficial reasons. Additionally, this is a very popular day to get married or divorced for similar reasons.
June 12th - Grand Master's Day
The general public doesn't celebrate this day, but this is a holiday that is observed by the competitive battling scene oddly enough. This date is the birthday of the very first Grand Master. No tournaments are run on this day, and maestros give their resonators a break from any training regiments they may be on and abstain from all battling. Usually, the dynamic between maestro and resonator is flipped during this day and maestros serve their resonators only on this day as thanks for the hard work they put in the rest of the year.
July 25th - Visitor's Day
Formerly celebrated as a holiday, this has fallen to more of a historical observation. This date was the day in 110BM which the visitors from a "not so distant world" appeared and foretold the ancient Naturals of the disaster about to befall them. Despite cursing the visitors for "causing" the Great Evil to ravage the world, later generations celebrated the timely warning and the preparation this allowed. As mentioned, this holiday isn't celebrated in modern times due to certain stigmas surrounding the day as a whole.
August 1st-7th - Seven Heroes Week
A span of seven days celebrating the seven heroes who defended the world from the great evil nearly 2000 years ago. The last day isn't typically celebrated on Earth due to it being the Lunar hero's day. Festivities reach their biggest depending on the continent where that hero originated from, seen below:
- Nabhon - August 1st: Fire Hero's Day
- Libertera - August 2nd: Water Hero's Day
- U'ltera - August 3rd: Lightning Hero's Day
- Selvica - August 4th: Nature Hero's Day
- Kalanchi - August 5th: Earth Hero's Day
- Unis-Resonne - August 6th: Solar Hero's Day
It is said to be bad luck to disrespect a resonator of that element during their element's day. Additionally, it is in poor taste for a resonator to take advantage of the good graces provided to them on this day, as it is considered "unheroic".
September 8th - Remembrance Day
Seres' day of celebration is a somber one. This is usually a day to spend with your family and remember old friends and family members that passed or are no longer in your lives. This is not meant to be a day of grieving, but a day to celebrate the fond memories you've made with the people that have come and go in your life.
First week of October - Harvest Celebration
An older tradition still celebrated around the world. During this week there is a large amount of eating especially farm goods. People are just a touch bit nicer especially to those who prepare and produce food during this period. A common tradition only observed during this time is to leave a little extra money for anybody working in the food industry as thanks for all their hard work during the course of the year. As a result, many people will take temporary jobs in food service during this time as the average pay is much higher during the weeks leading up to and during the Harvest Celebration.
November 17th - The Triumph
Sage Kitori's day of celebration. In similar vein to Remembrance Day, this day is about celebrating your victories over the course of the year. Businesses usually have big sales the week prior to try and claim one last "victory" before this day.
December - Master's Tournament
Held during the second full week in December is the Master's tournament. It takes place in the world capital of Quiretteh and is the culmination of the entire year's tournament scene, so naturally this is a world-wide event. As the biggest competition in the entire world and takes place over the course of a week, and while not a holiday per say, it is definitely treated like one. The first round takes place on Monday, the Semi-finals on Tuesday, and the finals on Thursday. Should the winner of the tournament wish to face a Grand Master, this battle with take place on that Saturday.
December - Primo Elections
Held during the third full week in December, Voting begins Sunday morning with the votes cast and tallied by each continent. The Primo Magistus and Primo Résonne are announced on that Saturday with their terms beginning on January 1st,
December 31st - New Year's Eve
The final day of the year, and the day many people go out and party with friends and family and celebrate the year while they welcome in the new year.