Happy Festivus! How to celebrate and where to stream all ‘Seinfeld’ holiday episodes

On By Littum

Are you going to celebrate festivus with George Costanza this year? (NBC)

Are you going to celebrate festivus with George Costanza this year? (NBC)

It’s that time of year again…time for a Festivus for the rest of us! This Monday, December 23, it’s time for family, food and the annual Airing of Grievances during Festivus, the alternative Christmas holiday first celebrated on screen by the Costanza family in Seinfeld universe and now celebrated by Seinfeld fans and those who enjoy complaining and breaking boats! Are you ready to celebrate Festivus? If you need a refresher, here’s how to celebrate Seinfeld holiday, plus where to watch the Festivus episode Seinfeldand the rest of the sitcom’s holiday episodes as well.

Festivus is a holiday first coined in Season 9, Episode 10 of the Seinfeld. Invented by George Costanza’s father, Frank. Festivus is an alternative to Christmas, where families can vent their grievances to each other, decorate with an unadorned metal pole and fight physically.

The TV holiday was actually inspired by real life Seinfeld author Dan O’Keefe’s Family Traditions. His father invented a version of Festivus, and Dan mixed real aspects of his own family traditions with others Seinfeld the authors’ suggestions for creating the holiday we all love to celebrate today.

Festivus, a Festivus for the rest of us, falls every year on December 23rd. This year it happens to be a Monday, which feels like the perfect day for the Airing of Grievances.

There are three key elements to Festivus. First, get a metal pole as a holiday decoration because, as Frank Costanza put it, tinsel is “distracting” and a plain pole “requires no decoration.”

After that, participate in the Airing of Grievances (preferably at the dinner table). This is where members of the family share how they were let down by each other that year (how funny!). You can also complain about other things in your life or the world at large.

And finally, “feats of strength” where you basically fight each other! This could be in the form of wrestling, as Frank Costanza prefers, or something a little less physical. Maybe a game of some kind! But feel free to bow out of this step if you have to go on a double team at H&H Bagels…

Another way to celebrate Festivus? Revisit the original Festivus Seinfeld episode, or maybe even all of the Seinfeld Christmas episodes.

The last holiday episode of SeinfeldSeason 9, Episode 10, “The Strike,” is where The history of Festivus is told.

You can stream all nine seasons of Seinfeld on Netflix. But if you want to go one step further, the complete series has just been released on Blu-Ray (and 4K!) for the very first time, just in time for Festivus!

This is especially good news for fans who are bothered by that aspect ratio for the series translated for streaming. In the DVD format, the series should be restored to its original aspect ratio – call it a Festivus miracle!

  • “The Red Dot” (Season Three, Episode 12)

  • “The Pick” (Season Four, Episode 13)

  • “The Race” (Season Six, Episode 10)

  • “The Label Maker” (Season Six, Episode 12)

  • “The Gum” (Season Seven, Episode 10)

  • “The Andrea Doria” (season eight, episode 10)

  • “The Millennium” (Season Eight, Episode 20)

  • “The Strike” (Season Nine, Episode 10)

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