Happy Festivus! The Holiday for the Rest of Us

(EndPlay Staff Reports) - You don't have to be a Grinch if you're tired of the happy music, shopping and Santa Claus.

Instead, you can celebrate an alternative holiday: Festivus.

This fictional holiday originated during the ninth season of the classic TV comedy sitcom "Seinfeld." The concept originated in episode titled "The Strike," which first aired on Dec. 18, 1997, according to a Festivus website .

In the episode, George Costanza's father, Frank Costanza, recalled an incident when he tried to buy a Christmas gift for George when he was a child. A conflict with another shopper inspired Frank to seek another holiday tradition.

Here's a bit of the script (watch a video clip here ):

Frank Costanza: Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. 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.
Cosmo Kramer: What happened to the doll?
Frank Costanza: It was destroyed. But out of that a new holiday was born … a Festivus for the rest of us!
Cosmo Kramer: That must have been some kind of doll.
Frank Costanza: She was.

Festivus doesn't just live on in re-reruns of "Seinfeld." There are actual followers who adhere to the off-beat idea of this alternative to the Christmas season. Some of the central tenets of the "faith" include:

• Festivus is celebrated each year on Dec. 23, though followers can celebrate during other times throughout the year.
• The official slogan is "A Festivus for the rest of us!"
• The traditional greeting is "Happy Festivus."
• Typically, adherents manifest their holiday with an unadorned aluminum pole – in direct contrast to the usual holiday materialism.
• Festivus followers can participate in an "Airing of Grievances" in which they get to tell others how they have disappointed you in the past year.
• After this tense event, Festivus followers hold a Festivus dinner.
• They complete the celebration with a "Feats of Strength" in which a guest wrestles the head of the household until he is pinned.

You can even follow Festivus happenings on Facebook .

Watch a clip from the "Festivus" episode.