Alegarten
Alegarten (AYL-gar-ten) is an annual festival that takes place in Veta, beginning on the first of October and lasting five days. Vetans enjoy beer and sausages in massive halls and outdoor tents.
Lore
Hundreds of years ago, before Veta's boundaries were established, the region was a patchwork of tiny states ruled by a number of princes and lords. While these miniature kingdoms had clashed with each other and with kingdoms to the north in present-day Riverside, and while they had suffered through the growing pains all developing civilizations do in their dark, early days, they were finally entering an age of peace and prosperity.
Work may have been just as difficult for peasants as it was before, but flourishing trade between neighboring lands created a friendly atmosphere that was felt from the highest of lords to the lowest of serfs. For once, the region's inhabitants felt a special pride for the region as a whole in addition to the pride they felt for their states.
As each ruler stood to benefit from an alliance, the states were finally joined to form what we now know as Veta. To celebrate, the rulers began construction of a huge beer hall on a scale that had never been seen (and is yet to be matched), right in the center of their new nation. On October first, the massive hall was open to all citizens; a gesture of great kindness considering that royal grounds were off-limits to all but the most distinguished of citizens in those days.
While Veta's lords and princes have long since been replaced, its citizens still celebrate each October. (Curiously, it is the date of the hall's unveiling rather than the date of the nation's unification that attracts the biggest celebration.) Huge tents serve as makeshift halls, attracting thousands of locals and tourists hungry for steaming sausages, crackling cuts of pork, hefty mugs of beer, enormous pretzels and other feasts fit for the hungriest of peasants.
The significance of the celebration may have been lost to some, for whom beer has become the focus, but the sense of camaraderie the event inspires has remained throughout the years.
Customs and Traditions
- Large crowds of friends, family and strangers (strangers are considered friends-to-be-made by cheerful Vetans) flock to beer gardens and halls to drink beer and enjoy traditional foods.
A band is often present; Vetans rise to their feet and drink a toast to good times whenever the band plays.
Various drinking songs are sung.
Some locals dress in traditional garb as a demonstration of pride.
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