Clan Holidays and Festivals

Like the people of the Inner Sphere the Clans celebrate several holidays. Some are caste- or Clan-specific, while others are Clan-wide. There are hundreds of festivals in all, some marked with little more than a cursory gathering, others providing an excuse for thousands to gather. The Clans also believe in rest days, working on a rolling schedule of eight days out of every ten, and so holidays occasionally clash with existing days off. When this happens, the individual affected may take the following day as a holiday instead. This practice leaders to many major calibrations being staggered over several days. A similar practice applies when major mobile and fixed festivals occur on the same day
the following are the most significant Clan holidays and festivals.

New Year (31 December/1 January)
The only holiday that the Clans share with the Inner Sphere, New Year is a time of celebration, marked by spectacular fireworks and raucous parties. As in the Inner Sphere, Clansmen reflect upon the events in the past year and look forward to the new. The celebration, which covers New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, is considered a time of truce between warring Clans.

Homecoming Day (1May)
A new holiday first celebrated by the Nova Cats in 3060, Homecoming Day celebrates the Cats’ return to the Inner Sphere and Star League. A time for reflections, it honors the fallen and gives thanks to their sacrifice that enabled the Nova Cats to “come home” to the Star League.

Liberation Day (26 May)
This occasion marks the liberation of the last of the Pentagon worlds and servers as a general day of remembrance for those who have fallen achieving the Clan’s goals. Through all the castes respect Liberation Day, only the warrior cast performs special rites. Each Clan holds a ceremony outside it’s primary genetic repository to recognize the sacrifice of those who have gone before, paving the way for the glory of the Clans. Warriors are selected by lot to attend this ceremony, the honor of attending which is second only to Founding Day. Individual units spend at least an hour paying homage wherever they are based.

Hell’s Horses Trial of Renewal (22 August)
As a preamble to Founding Day calibrations, the Hell’s Horses Alpha and Omega Keshiks meet in a mock combat to hone their fighting skills. The spectacular match, which coincides with the Keshiks’ rotation between Strana Mechty and the Hell’s Horses domain, and many outside the Clan also watch. The venue of the battle is determined by lot, but is always within the Strana Mechty system, allowing the winners to head the Horses delegation to the Founding Day celebrations.

Founding Day (24 August)
The most significant Clan holiday, Founding day is the only event celebrated by the clans in concert (most Clan-wide events are celebrated individually). It commemorates the Exodus fleets arrival to the Pentagon worlds in 2786 and is marked by parades and pageantry. Celebrations occur in each town and village; everyone watches the live trideo broadcast of the celebrations on Strana Mechty. The clans gather to stage a stupendous march past the Hall of Khans, putting aside their petty squabbles to demonstrate their martial strength. The highlight of the parade is the “flyby” of McKenna’s Pride, the flagship of both Aleksandr and Nicholas Kerensky. As with New Year’s, a general truce exists between Clans on Founding Day, Though they have to compunction about fighting “barbarians” from the Inner Sphere or Periphery.

Exodus Day (5 November)
The Clan-wide celebration marks the Exodus from the Inner Sphere in 2784. Celebrated by a day of fasting, it culminates with a meal of thanksgiving to honor the vision of Aleksandr Kerensky.

Invasion Day (21 November)
Initiated by members of the Crusader faction, Invasion day celebrates the “go vote” that initiated the Operation Revival, and is marked by carousing and fireworks since the clan losing the Great Refusal, many Clans have abandoned this holiday.

Star League Day (27 December)
Another Solemn occasion, on this day every Clansmen commemorates the assassination of First Lord Richard Cameron in 2766 that led the fall of the Star League. It is a day of reflection, usually accompanied by considerable invective aimed at the Inner Sphere powers whom the clans believe destroyed the League. In the Inner Sphere, the day has developed a reputation of violent clashes between immigrants from Clan space and locals.

Star Festival (every 6,407 days on Paxon)
One of the most remote outposts in Clan space, the world of Paxon has little to make it stand out except the Theta Pyxidis nova and the Star Festival. A recurrent Nova–that is, a variable binary star with a short “repeat cycle” (in this case 17.5 years)–Theta Pyxidis is locates roughly sixteen light-years anti-spinward of the Clan world. Whenever the star is due to flare, the population gathers to witness the spectacle. Though visible elsewhere in the Kerensky Cluster, the event is at its most spectacular on Paxon, and is marked by a week long festival.