The Flanaess counts years in the Common Year (CY); it is now 576 CY (see History of the World). The year is twelve months of 28 days, plus four festival weeks of 7 days that fall between the seasons and belong to no month.
The week
| Day | |
|---|---|
| Starday | work |
| Sunday | work |
| Moonday | work |
| Godsday | worship |
| Waterday | work |
| Earthday | work |
| Freeday | rest |
The year
The year begins with Needfest in the dead of winter. Elves and the steppe nomads have their own names for the months, and you’ll hear them from elven and nomad characters.
| Common name | Season | Elven name | Nomad name | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✦ | Needfest | midwinter festival | ||
| 1 | Fireseek | Winter | Diamondice | Tiger |
| 2 | Readying | Spring | Yellowillow | Bear |
| 3 | Coldeven | Spring | Snowflowers | Lion |
| ✦ | Growfest | spring festival | ||
| 4 | Planting | Low Summer | Blossoms | Frog |
| 5 | Flocktime | Low Summer | Violets | Turtle |
| 6 | Wealsun | Low Summer | Berrytime | Fox |
| ✦ | Richfest | midsummer festival | ||
| 7 | Reaping | High Summer | Goldfields | Snake |
| 8 | Goodmonth | High Summer | Sunflowers | Boar |
| 9 | Harvester | High Summer | Fruitfall | Squirrel |
| ✦ | Brewfest | autumn festival | ||
| 10 | Patchwall | Autumn | Brightleaf | Hare |
| 11 | Ready’reat | Autumn | Tinklingice | Hawk |
| 12 | Sunsebb | Winter | Lacysnows | Wolf |
The moons
- Luna, the great white moon (the Mistress), waxes and wanes every 28 days. The months follow her.
- Celene, the small blue moon (the Handmaiden), is full only four times a year, and always during a festival.
Festivals in the Free City
Not every festival day is a holiday in a city this busy, but each festival has its high point.
Needfest (midwinter)
The whole week is a public holiday: a great midwinter blow-out. Every tavern, theater and gaming house is packed, and everyone eats and drinks far too much.
The last night, before the new year’s months begin, is the Feast of Fools, from five in the evening until midnight. The high are made low and the low are made high:
- The Lord Mayor and the Directors parade through the Old City in dunce’s caps, stopping to hear the wisdom of fools.
- Clerks put the judges on trial for absurd crimes.
- The worst students lecture their professors.
- Over all of it stands The Fool, usually the city’s most gifted bard or jester, appointed by the Directors. For those seven hours, the Fool is king.
Growfest (spring)
The spring festival. On its last night the Guild of Wizardry holds a famous contest of illusions, judged by some of the city’s greatest wizards. The winners take a purse of gold and a year’s free membership in the Guild. Hot chestnuts and mulled wine are sold in the crowd.
Richfest (midsummer)
- Midsummer Day is the Holy Day of Pelor, the most loved god among ordinary people. Public offices close and many shops shut. Pelor’s priests hold services in the open air, followed by a free meal for all. Most people wear something yellow.
- The Guild Days follow: two days when the artisans show their finest work in the High Market and compete for the coveted Medal of Zagig. The prize is worth so much to a shop that bribery and sabotage are common. So are well-paid jobs guarding a prize sculpture, or a prize ham.
Brewfest (autumn)
The harvest-and-brewing festival. The first and last days are public holidays, and the city is impressively drunk on all seven. The Guild of Ostlers and Brewers judges ales, meads, wines and spirits from as far away as Perrenland and Sunndi.
Calendar from the World of Greyhawk gazetteer (1980) and the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide*; city festivals from* The City of Greyhawk (1989). © Wizards of the Coast, summarized under the Fan Content Policy.