How the Harvest is Celebrated in Purerah

The harvest celebrations in Purerah are quite similar to how it is celebrated throughout the Custod world. The Harvest Ball in Purerah in the year 2000 is a pivotal point in The Enthronement series. So what is one to expect when celebrating the Harvest Ball?

The Harvest celebrations are started when the harvest for the summer and fall seasons are completed. When all the food is stored and ready for the winter. A time to reward the workers for their hard work, prepare for a long winter, and enjoy some sweet treats. Making treats is a key element of the harvest.

The harvest’s abundance allows for more sweet and fun treats to be made than would normally be enjoyed during the year. Candied everything is the secret: fruits, sweet bread, cakes, and sugary treats. The most popular are those done with sweet pumpkin, peaches, apples, and cinnamon treats.

The harvest is celebrated with a festival that starts in the afternoon. The traditional start is when the last fruit is harvested and put away into winter storage. Once that work is done, everyone gets cleaned up and dressed up for the evening, but not just for a pretty dance but for a masquerade party in the town center.

The masks can vary in theme, but often people will wear masks and dress up as animals, characters from famous books or plays, or nobility or royalty both past and present, and some just take the excuse to wear the most lavish.

Experts often debate where the “spookier” theme of the harvest came from. It is said Cedrick Custod started this tradition to please a young girl who was deathly ill and loved to dress up play with creatures many called “creepy” or “spooky”. Others say it was because the first showing of some of the spookiest plays were performed and/or premiered by Damian Custod. The main plays accredited and performed commonly in the month leading to the harvest are The Phantom, The Witches, The Wizard of Oz, and A Halloween Tale.

The world "Halloween" was introduced to the people of the Custod world when the production A Halloween Tale was released which introduced more of the spidery, ghostly themes that slowly became a part of the Harvest traditions, but never quite transformed the full harvest celebration as Halloween. It’s more of a blend between Halloween and the American tradition of Thanksgiving. Large feasts, masquerades to celebrate a good harvest and, making as many sweet treats of the leftovers from the harvest as possible.