Festivus - in Popular Culture

In Popular Culture

• "Festivus" was the name of a seasonal Ben & Jerry's ice cream made in 2000 and 2001.

• "Festivus" was a term used by the 2000 Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL) and their fans to denote the NFL Playoffs. During the season, Ravens head coach Brian Billick, wanting his players to focus on every game, banned the word "playoffs". Players substituted the term "festivus" for playoffs and "Festivus Maximus" for the Super Bowl. The Ravens eventually won the 2000-01 "Festivus Maximus," Super Bowl XXXV.
• In 2005, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle was declared "Governor Festivus" and during the holiday season displayed a Festivus Pole in the family room of the Executive Residence in Madison, Wisconsin. Governor Doyle's 2005 Festivus Pole is now part of the collection of the Wisconsin Historical Museum.
• In 2006 The Intelligencer, in an article titled "Festivus comes to town..." reported that eight young men from Brockville, Ontario, Canada set forth on a pilgrimage to Belleville, Ontario carrying a Festivus pole which was erected inside a local pub/pool hall, where they began "airing grievances" and performing "feats of strength". This annual tradition is celebrated on the third Saturday every December.
• In 2007, a Wisconsin man requested permission to erect a Festivus pole next to Green Bay City Hall's nativity scene as a response to public religious and secular displays.
• In 2007, the first Festivus Pole Lot opened in downtown Milwaukee.
• Beginning in 2008, the Festivus film festival is held in Denver, Colorado.
• In 2008 and 2009, a Festivus pole was erected in the rotunda of the Illinois Capitol building located in Springfield, Illinois. In 2008, the handle of a pool cleaner was erected by 18-year-old student, Mike Tennenhouse, who along with then Governor Rod Blagojevich began "airing grievances" on behalf of the people of Illinois. The 2009 display was an unadorned aluminum pole.
• In 2008 the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C. held an "airing of grievances" on bulletin boards attached to a kiosk. These grievances were then aired by a town crier in a jester hat the following weekend.
• In 2010 an inmate at the Theo Lacy jail in Santa Ana, CA received Kosher meals for his Festivus "faith". Malcolm King was given non-salami meals for two months while the county was getting the order thrown out, arguing that kosher meals and religious observances were not a part of Festivus. The issue became moot on October 5, 2010, when King was released from county jail and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
• In 2010 a CNN story featuring Jerry Stiller detailed the increasing popularity of the holiday, including US Representative Eric Cantor's Festivus fundraiser.
• In 2010 the Christian Science Monitor, in an article titled "Festivus becomes worldwide holiday," reported that Festivus was a top trend on Twitter.
• The punk rock band Titus Andronicus named their debut album after "The Airing of Grievances."
• In 2011, the Chattanooga Times Free Press in Chattanooga, TN detailed citizen Benjamin Fleet's celebration of Festivus.