Festivus, a holiday that included a pole and the “airing of grievances,” was popularized on Seinfeld in 1997. The seasonal holiday wasn’t made up for the show, though. Festivus was a holiday that Seinfeld writer Dan O’Keefe lived through as a child. While it was presented as quirky and fun on the famed comedy, O’Keefe’s recollection of the yearly event isn’t so amusing. Festivus’ origins are pretty dark and disturbing.
‘The Strike’ introduced ‘Seinfeld’ fans to Festivus
Festivus became a part of pop culture in 1997 when the Seinfeld episode, “The Strike,” centered around an eccentric holiday created by George Costanza’s easily-addled father, Frank Costanza. In the episode, the Costanzas celebrate the odd holiday by pulling out the Festivus pole. The event includes a celebratory dinner, feats of strength, and the “airing of the grievances.” Fans long assumed something so absurd must have been made up by the creative geniuses behind the show. The origins of Festivus are not that simple and certainly not that whimsical.
Dan O’Keefe, the famed Seinfeld writer, is credited with the development of Festivus, but his father really developed the holiday back in the 1960s. His father, Daniel Lawrence O’Keefe, was an editor for The Reader’s Digest. Dan O’Keefe sat down with The Daily Beast for their Fever Dreams podcast in 2021 and delved deeply into the holiday’s origins. It isn’t as lighthearted as it is presented on Seinfeld. Festivus’ origins are downright alarming.
Dan O’Keefe revealed the origins of ‘Festivus’ during a podcast appearance
O’Keefe revealed that his father had undiagnosed bipolar disorder and was a high-functioning alcoholic. He claims he means it in the “nicest way possible,” though. Because of his father’s personal issues, O’Keefe revealed he wasn’t a reliable storyteller. While his father insisted Festivus’ origins were rooted in his dating anniversary with O’Keefe’s mother, the TV writer says he can’t be sure of that. He conceded that his father told him the holiday was his anniversary. Still, he told the podcast host his father said, “a lot of crazy s****.”
O’Keefe notes that the holiday didn’t happen on any particular day, unlike how it is today. He said his father might announce it was Festivus whenever he needed a boost or for no reason at all. During his chat about the holiday, he revealed that some years, Festivus would happen twice, and once, they completely skipped the event. O’Keefe didn’t point to any given moment in which Festivus was invented, either. It seems that one day, it was just Festivus.
Dan O’Keefe said Festivus eventually just disappeared
O’Keefe admits that the Festivus that Seinfeld fans know and love looks very little like the Festivus his family celebrated when he was a kid. One element of the original holiday event made it into the famed Seinfeld episode, though.
During his appearance on Fever Dreams, O’Keefe revealed that the “airing of grievances” was a real part of the Festivus he celebrated with his family. In 2018, O’Keefe described the act of his father yelling into a tape recorder to air his grievances to Uproxx. He later called it an overly formalized way of yelling at the kids.
While Festivus has become a part of pop culture, O’Keefe wouldn’t mind leaving the holiday behind. In fact, he did before Seinfeld picked up on the idea. O’Keefe admits that his family celebrated the eccentric event through the 1960s and 1970s, and then it disappeared just as suddenly as it became a part of the family calendar. They never spoke about it again.
