“(xyz) Days” as a historic/cultural parade, festival? What is this term and does your town do it?
Posted by ferrisbuellerspussy@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 64 comments
I have not heard of this before. Idk what this term is because I can’t figure out how to word it on Google. Just get unrelated results.
This being a festival or parade for the town, or related to a significant cultural topic. Usually seems to be about recreating/celebrating the early days of the town’s founding. For example what I heard about in Utah that it was Wild West themed, and everyone dressed as such and rode horses, as this was the time period of that town’s founding.
Would be called “Somethingtown Days”
le_crobag@reddit
In Nederland, Colorado, they have “Frozen Dead Guy Days” in honor of a local man who was cryogenically frozen
ComprehensiveCoat627@reddit
I heard that moved to Estes Park. It will always be associated with Nederland in my head, though. I wonder if they moved the frozen dead guy as well or if he's still in a shed in Nederland?
gdubh@reddit
Yeah the body is in Nederland. The festivities kind of outgrew Nederland.
carryon4threedays@reddit
I remember working in Boulder and not knowing about Frozen Dead Guy Days. Some of the cars from the parade were driving through town and I got freaked out.
Quicherbichen1@reddit
And his wife kept him in a freezer in her garage.
Objective-Ad5620@reddit
I’ve always heard of Pioneer Days or Founders Days in western states.
BecauseImBatmanFilms@reddit
A little fun anecdote. When I lived in Salt Lake City, I got up one day to go to work. My job was on the other side of my university's campus. I got to the bus stop and waited....and waited...and waited. As it turns out, Pioneer Day is such a big thing in Utah, that some city services will shut down to give everyone a day off, like the university bus system. I, as someone who moved there recently, spent 15 minutes waiting for a bus that was never going to come.
Bright_Ices@reddit
I worked for a client-services company in SLC. The owner was from California and decided to follow the federal holiday calendar. We tried to warn him, but he didn’t listen. About 90% of the families we worked with canceled their Pie&Beer Day services, then were so annoyed when they later realized no one was coming on October 12. The company calendar changed the next year.
Lovebeingadad54321@reddit
In the small suburbs of Peoria IL we have. 1. Good neighbor days 2. Turkey festival 3. Strawberry Festival 4. Pumpkin festival 5. Festival of Lights
travelinmatt76@reddit
My hometown has The Great Texas Mosquito Festival. The opening ceremonies start with slapping a couple mosquitoes from a jar.
And another nearby town has the No Name Festival, which is just a festival with no name.
lisasimpsonfan@reddit
We have festivals for different races/ethnicities from Spring to Fall. Each one covers the history of the group in our area. There are multiple every weekend with in driving distance.
Our local historical societies and libraries have events about local history but not Founder's Day or anything.
itcheyness@reddit
Where I'm from, we call it (XYZ) Fest generally.
So like German Fest
Polish Fest
Irish Fest
PrideFest
There are some outliers like Festa Italiana, Mexican Fiesta, Indian Summer Festival, Asian Moon Festival, etc. though.
milchar@reddit
I have nearby towns that have sweetcorn days and rhubarb days.
GSilky@reddit
Frozen Dead Guy Days is coming up around here. Lots of beer drinking and casket races in honor of a guy who was cryogenically frozen, to be thawed in the future, but his son or grandson just stored his body in a shed packed with ice. After the discovery in a small town of Nederland Colorado, the locals decided to commemorate the weird find with a festival. They are funny people up there. It used to be a hoot, but too many people showing up ruined a good thing and now the festival moved to have better access.
Ambitious-Elk5705@reddit
These are just local celebrations, a common term is "founders day"
I'm in Utah. Every town I've lived in here has done this, though none of us have ever been asked to dress up like it's the wild west. There's generally parades, fireworks, food, markets, and a ton of activities from sports to crafts, plus more.
Pioneer Day on the other hand, it's similar to the local celebrations, but it's a state holiday. This one celebrates our pioneer heritage and there's usually a parade and there's some dressed up as cowboys during it, there's also the rodeo and state fair that happen during this time frame. But that's about as wild west as I've seen.
LeGrandePoobah@reddit
I was surprised that someone actually talked about Utah as the impetus for a question like this. I’m from Utah, too and immediately thought of Pioneer Day- but I’m guessing they saw either the Days of ‘47 rodeo or the parade. Or maybe the cattle drive they have done in years past.
Bright_Ices@reddit
Brigham City and Hurricane both have Peach Days.
My sister’s favorite state festival was what she called The Bestival Festival of the American Westival lol (actually termed the Festival of the American West, in Wellsville) Now she lives in the Mid-Atlantic, so she misses it.
LeGrandePoobah@reddit
There’s a lot of these throughout the state. I’ve been a part of some bands, and these usually provide a lot of opportunities to play.
Ambitious-Elk5705@reddit
I forgot about the cattle drive. I hate crowds so I never go to anything unless my family convinces me. Thankfully, we have a good view of city fireworks from our front yard.
ferrisbuellerspussy@reddit (OP)
Thank you this is exactly what I’m looking for
throwfar9@reddit
Toast and Jelly Days here in Lake Wobegon.
seifd@reddit
We have Pulaski Days, named in honor of General Casimir Pulaski, a Polish man who fought in the American Revolution. Mostly people go to one of the Polish halls, drink beer, eat Polish food, and listen to polka music.
hisamsmith@reddit
I grew up in a midwestern town founded by Quakers. The town still has a Quaker day parade. Often the houses and buildings in town that were used in the Underground Railroad (Quakers were abolitionists) before and during the Civil War offer tours and it’s just a fun festive experience.
lw_red@reddit
In Las Vegas, NV they have Helldorado Days
History (from city's webpage)
The Helldorado Days Parade, formerly known as the Las Vegas Days Parade, or simply Helldorado, is held in mid-May each year and celebrates the city’s western roots. The parade usually includes floats, marching bands, cowboys and cowgirls on horseback, costumed dancers, and car and motorcycle clubs.
Scrappy_The_Crow@reddit
If the "days" part is what's confusing, think of it like this: "old times" > "old days" > "this time period in local history days."
It's used to evoke a time period, as opposed to a specific event, although remembrance of specific events are often included.
ferrisbuellerspussy@reddit (OP)
Yep I understand that but not sure how to Google it to find more information, so I ask here in case there was an alternate term :)
Leeoliao@reddit
Oh yeah, those are usually called "heritage days" or "pioneer days" orOh yeah, those are usually called "heritage days" or "pioneer days" or something like that. My town does "Founders' Days" every summer with a parade and carnival rides. something like that. My town does "Founders' Days" every summer with a parade and carnival rides.
Affectionate-Arm5784@reddit
We have Doc Holliday Festival as the famous doc practiced dentistry here before heading to the Wild West
Natural_Parfait_3344@reddit
Railroad Days and yes.
original_greaser_bob@reddit
my tribes major summer powwow for years was called North American Indian Days. i think now its officially not called that, but every one in my town still reffers to it as Indian Days.
NOLA-VeeRAD@reddit
I live in New Orleans so I don’t know where to start.
Parades and festivals are our favorite things.
ferrisbuellerspussy@reddit (OP)
I am from New Orleans too!
saltedkumihimo@reddit
When I was a child this was called Contraband Days but now it’s https://www.louisianapiratefestival.com which is a serious downgrade. It also looks like it hasn’t been held in a while. It was a bit like a miniature Mardi Gras with a carnival set up.
A lot of places in Pennsylvania where I live now have county fairs or harvest events (Pumpkin picking weekends) to bring people out.
KittenMittensx4@reddit
We have Big Hat Days that coincides with our rodeo.
NotDelnor@reddit
I grew up in a small town with lots of orchards in the area. We had Cherry Days because that was or towns most popular fruit that was grown.
SorryDog254@reddit
“Spring Ho”
Practical-Ordinary-6@reddit
Cedar Grove, Wisconsin has something every July they call Holland Fest, which celebrates the founding of the town by Dutch settlers in 1847. I think that's the kind of thing you're talking about probably. They could have called it Dutch Days potentially but Holland Days would not have been so good.
Sh0ckValu3@reddit
The next town over has "Irrigation days" . There's a little farming there, but nothing notable. It's very confusing, but scared to ask people about it in case they have an hour long explanation prepared.
ScarletDarkstar@reddit
There are a lot of various local festivals. Heritage days, fall festivals, cheeseburger festivals, peanut festivals, maple festivals, hot air balloon festivals, or whatever is suited to the location.
Example: Roswell NM has a UFO Festival because it is known for the air force base there being the 'supposed' location they took the 1947 UFO crash debris and aliens after the crash at Corona.
It is XYZ because it could be anything, but the events are similar.
loweexclamationpoint@reddit
At least 2 places in Wisconsin celebrate Syttende Mai (Norwegian Independence Day) with lots of 19th century Norway reenactment along with the usual.
Monroe WI does Cheese Days every other year
AlternativeCraft8905@reddit
My town has a Paniolo Parade which is ōlelo Hawai’i for “cowboy”. The horses have ti leaf leis. Cowboys and descendants of the royal families ride through dressed in traditional attire representing each island
PacSan300@reddit
Was genuinely surprised to learn about Hawaii’s cowboy culture. Definitely did not expect to come across one there.
carryon4threedays@reddit
We had a Strawberry festival in my hometown. Complete with parade, carnival, amazing food, concerts/dances, and much more. It just celebrated some of the area’s agriculture.
DirectorHuman5467@reddit
Oh yeah, there's an Apple Harvest Festival near me in the fall.
CoderPro225@reddit
About to have Strawberry Days here in Pleasant Grove, UT. Your description is pretty much what will happen here, except we also have a rodeo. 🤩
AlarmingAttention151@reddit
Yeah my hometown has Wagon Days.
robynclark@reddit
South of me is cow days, north of me is ham days. My state has tons of little festivals like that.
therealgookachu@reddit
Town I grew up in had Schooner Days.
Quicherbichen1@reddit
In Colorado Springs, CO it's "Territory Days" held in June.
Nickvv52@reddit
We have a seafood festival here, and also just a crawfish one. Seafood not my thing, so I only went with my family as a kid. My city also hosts the biggest gay memorial weekend event in the country, which I have participated in from about 2007 to 2016. Then my best hag moved away and now I can't walk.
CommanderKrieger@reddit
We don’t have any celebrations that last multiple days in my hometown, but we do have a festival dedicated to a particular person with historical significance. He lived in our area in the mid 1700s before moving westward into the frontier. I’m not going to give the name of the festival, or the name of the man as I don’t necessarily want to just drop the location of my hometown, but chances are that if you’ve read a history book about the frontier and prominent figures of that time, you’ve read his name.
emma_kayte@reddit
Rooster Day in my town. Used to be the day to bring in your extra roosters, now its corndogs and maga
Zebrashurting@reddit
Hayward WI has Muskyfest, complete with fishing tournaments, carnival and craft fair.
CoderPro225@reddit
Off the top of my head from my hometown and surrounding cities: Strawberry Days, Steel Days, Pioneer Days, Onion Days, Freedom Festival during July 4th in our county seat, and the Days of ‘47 celebration July 24 at the State Capitol. July 24th is a state holiday in Utah.
Prize_Sorbet3366@reddit
It sounds like what you're referring to is often called a Founder's Day celebration.
ferrisbuellerspussy@reddit (OP)
Where I live we have so many festivals and holidays but none with the term “days” (that I know of)
ferrisbuellerspussy@reddit (OP)
THANK YOU this is exactly what I am looking for!!!
SheShelley@reddit
We have “Dillinger Days” because John Dillinger and his gang were captured at a local hotel back in the day. (The hotel is still there.)
In Tombstone, a couple hours away, they have “Wyatt Earp Days” every year in honor of the legendary sheriff of the Old West and his family and their famed gunfight at the OK Corral.
YoshiandAims@reddit
They are literally everywhere. Every town I've ever lived in has little things like it. Xyz can be anything.
There are so many, I can't begin to list them all. Ones for fall harvests, music, religion, autumn leaves, hobbies, beer, holidays each have a "whatever days" festival.
Businesses have them. Summer days, and one about reading are offered by the local library. They have a few, particularly in the summer and dead of winter.
we even have one for our town bridge... no joke. They shut the bridge down and hold a little festival on it. Bands, carnival food, local vendors. Annoying as hell to get in or our of town as it's the main route over the river.
Also a famous massive farm theft has a "Cattle theft days" parade. (I changed it for anonymous reasons) where it's a weekend and parade for this massive "cattle theft" that happened 3 generations ago to the little town I grew up near. Why celebrate it? I do not know. Lol. It's been happening for generations now.
Stores have them too (something days! And it's just a sale)
JoonNolu@reddit
My little town had Heritage Days. I don't think it was associated with any particular past event, just a general old timey day. I remember making apple cider with an apple press, dipping candles, and making Johnny cakes.
BB-56_Washington@reddit
Yes, we have whaling days. It's been probably 10 years since I last went to one, but there is a parade, usual activities, a fireworks show and a run.
Specific_War5484@reddit
We had Barbacue Days. It wasnt really themed or anything. We did things like a parade with floats and had carnival games like catching a greased pig. The churches would buy a ton of pork and barbecue it with huge smokers then sell them on sandwiches for next to nothing.
SleepsNextToBoo@reddit
Apple Festival for us.
Trillion_G@reddit
We had Western Days in the town I grew up in. There was a parade and a little fair in the town square.