How to watch Seinfeld's holiday Festivus episode that gained a pop ...

It's almost time for an ongoing pop culture reference that has been gaining some traction during the last few decades: the celebration of Seinfeld's Festivus.

What is Festivus?

The fictional holiday is typically celebrated on Dec. 23 and Festivus came to us from the writers of “Seinfeld” television series, with a new holiday tradition featured in the Season 9 episode “The Strike,” which first aired on Dec. 18, 1997.

In the episode, the character George Costanza is reminded his father, Frank, created the Festivus holiday when he was younger.

“Many years ago, I went to buy a doll for my son,” Frank Costanza explained. “I reached for the last one they had but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized there had to be another way.”

He explained the doll was destroyed in the battle and that's when “a new holiday was born — a Festivus for the Rest of Us.”

According to the tradition, during the Festivus family dinner, everyone publicly shares ways they've been disappointed by family members during the last year, as an “airing of grievances.”

There is no tree to adorn, but a long, metal pole, similar to a coat rack, is what Frank Costanza brought out to mark the holiday.

Following the family dinner, there is a challenge called the Feats of Strength, where the head of the household tests their strength against another participant.

George Costanza is embarrassed by the whole holiday, but Cosmo Kramer, another show character, insists on bringing back the family tradition.

While it was a humorous episode that soon gained a pop culture following, there was some truth behind the Festivus story.

According to festivusweb.com, “Seinfeld” writer Dan O'Keefe actually had a Festivus family holiday invented by his dad around 1966.

“Daniel O'Keefe Sr. originally invented Festivus as a way to have a holiday that was secular and not burdened by the religious and commercialism of the holiday season,” festivusweb.com said.

The O'Keefe family Festivus had no set date and O'Keefe's dad often surprised the family with Festivus any time throughout the year.

Over the decades, O'Keefe's dad did sometimes tape family members talking about what was bothering them and kept the tapes to play in the future.

'A Festivus for the Rest of Us'

The term “A Festivus for the Rest of Us” was an actual O'Keefe family Festivus motto and referred initially to those remaining after the death of O'Keefe's grandmother. It later morphed in a general saying to mean a forward-looking focus on life and the living, i.e., “Let the dead bury the dead.”

Once other “Seinfeld” writers learned about the inventive Festivus holiday, they pushed O'Keefe to bring it into the show. And fans embraced the concept to have life imitate art.

In 2005, O'Keefe decided to write a book about his unique family tradition, called “The Real Festivus: The True Story Behind America's Favorite Made-up Holiday.”

Today, the Festivus holiday continues as a nonsecular celebration and as a way to reflect on the materialism of the common holidays.

“The Festivus pole is back at the Wisconsin capitol,” Scott Bauer wrote on the X platform. “Festivus is Monday.”

“Festivus for the rest of us … Don’t forget to air grievances and demonstrate feats of strength,” Jeff Crusey wrote on X.

You can stream the Seinfeld series on Netflix in Canada or on the CTV platform.

Festivus fans are able to even buy a Festivus holiday kit on Amazon.ca.